Touched
by thatgirlyoucantrust
Summary: Tommy is in an automobile accident. He awakes from a coma to realize he has not only lost years of his life but also his sense of touch. JudeTommy. It's better than this summary. Trust me.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Instant Star. **

**A/N: This is rewrite from an old story that I wrote. This is slightly based off the lifetime movie _Touched_.**

**Rating: This chapter is rated T...now the next chapter is another story. **

Tommy got up from his previous place on the couch, stretched, and finally went to the door of his apartment, where someone was anxiously knocking.

"Jude," he stated flatly, holding the door open. He should have known, she was now a frequent visitor now that she was pushing her own wheels.

"Well damn. Don't say it like that," she smirked, pushing her way in with a pizza box and a bag of junk food.

"Oh sure girl," he rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Come on in." he watched her searching through his cabinets for a pizza pan to place the pizza on. "Make yourself at home."

"Thanks. Hey, I come bearing gifts at least." she smiled, sweetly. He walked over and sat at his bar, watching her busily scurrying around his kitchen like she lived there. He had to admit she looked like she belonged there.

"One day, you're going to be pleasantly surprised when you walk in here at the wrong time," he teased.

"Yeah right," she laughed, "Like you're getting any these days."

"I am getting **plenty** thank you very much," he smiled, looking at her bemused. He wanted to know why she what was upsetting her, but like he always did; he waited patiently for her to spill her guts. He casually ate the grapes on the platter sitting on the counter.

"You and some other people…" she sighed, sliding the pizza into the convection oven, and hopping on the granite countertop in front of him. "I just walked in on Kat and Jamie—doing it. On the kitchen table," she explained, slowly shaking her head from side to side.

Tommy choked on the grape he was eating. Jude laughed, and firmly patted him on the back. "Ha. Look at you. You didn't even see it! Imagine me. Unexpectedly coming in with a box of Dominoes pizza and a Sierra Mist to see my roommate/best friend and my ex-boyfriend/best friend **doing** it where I eat my mini-wheats in the morning."

He tried so hard not to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't laughed like this in ages. The kind of sidesplitting laughter than can cure the common cold. It was that kind of laughter that can relieve stress and hypertension. It was that addictive type of laughter.

Jude chuckled herself after watching him almost fall to the floor laughing. "It wasn't that funny."

"I know, I know…" he gasped. "It's really not." He said trying to compose himself. He couldn't though. The "doing it where I eat my mini-wheats" line just tore him up. "So what did you do?"

"I walked straight back out with my pizza." She shrugged.

"They didn't notice," he asked, skeptically.

"Um. No. Kat's E over C note drowned out the opening and closing of the door I'm sure." With this comment, Tommy was bent over laughing once again. "What I am serious…that girl should tryout for Instant Star one day. And ew. Jamie. I've never even thought of Jamie having a penis before."

Tommy slid out off his stool to the floor laughing. Jude leaned over and looked at him, grinning. She hadn't seen him act so childish in a while…every since he started dating this stuck up American-East Coast-Ivey-league-princess, named Diane Winthrop. What he saw in her—Jude had no clue. Hopefully it wasn't her fake-ass British accent. But thankfully 2 weeks ago, he came through to his senses after a 7-month relationship and dumped her on her little proper ass.

Tommy wiped the tears with the back his hand. "You are a trip."

"It's my coping mechanism," she shrugged, smiling at him.

"I've missed this--" he nodded, pointing to her and to him. "You know just us hanging out, acting goofy." She rolled her eyes, and smiled. He placed his hand on her thighs, making her instantly sit up straighter. He raised an eyebrow at her, noticing her tense up.

"Me to," she nodded, looking him in the eyes. "I really have." He ran his hands up her thighs so that he was holding her hips. The bell going off on the oven caused them both to jump up a little.

"Let me get that…" Jude murmured, not moving an inch.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the neck, just below her ear, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up with just that one touch. "Leave it," he whispered, gently biting her ear.

She gasped lightly, biting her bottom lip. She pulled away from him, and hopped off the counter. "So um…um. Um. Where's that oven glove?" she stuttered.

He sat back on the stool, propping his head up on his hand. He knew she knew where it was…but he decided to play alone with her little game. "Bottom drawer next to the sink." He responded, enjoying the view of her bending over. "Yup right there," he commented, huskily.

She looked back at him, and couldn't help smiling at the affect she was having on him. He shrugged back at her, leaving his stool, and entering the kitchen. She placed the pizza on the oven, and turned her back to him to get glasses from the cabinet. He stepped behind her and ran gently ran his fingertips along her arms, finally breaking contact to reach up for two glasses.

Jude hopped up on the counter and thoughtfully ate her first slice of pizza. Tommy leaned against the counter adjacent from her and did the same.

Suddenly Jude jumped off the counter and wiped her hands off her napkin. "I'm not going to be your rebound chick."

"I didn't ask you to be."

"Well not aloud," she said, taking a step closer to him.

"Let me rephrase that then: I don't won't you to be," he responded. "You're **not** going to be."

"That's good," she nodded, taking her glass and walking into the living room.

He followed behind her and flopped in the love seat as she raided his DVD collection.

"Please no chick flicks," he begged, feebly.

"Um. My choice this time buddy…" she said, in a singsong tone. "I suffered through _A Bronx Tale_ last time."

"But that movie's a classic…" he sighed, kicking his shoes and propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"Uh-huh. It's a classic in your book. This is a classic in my book," she said, holding up a DVD.

"_Just Like Heaven_? That's a chick flick." He stated, unblinkingly.

"Duh. And it's also a classic." She reminded, inserting it into the DVD player. "You know you like it though--why else would you have it in your collection?"

"Because I know you like it..." he sighed.

When Jude finally figured out the complicated entertainment system, she plopped on the loveseat next to Tommy, her legs hanging off the arm of the chair and her head resting comfortably in his lap.

As the movie finally got passed the previews neither one of them was paying any attention to the movie. Jude's attention was solely on Tommy's fingertips as he played with her hair and gently brushed across the hairs around her face and at the nape of her neck. Tommy's attention was on the softness of her skin, and the silkiness of her hair.

The phone ringing interrupted their moment. "You don't have answer that do you," Jude asked, drowsily.

"I'd better…probably someone looking for you," he smiled, sitting up as easily as possible, trying not to jolt her.

He answered the phone in the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Hey Tommy, I thought you was coming back to the studio."

"Sorry man, something came up," he said, quietly.

"Well you want me and Jude to record without you or what?" Kwest asked. He was used to him and Jude recording on their own, while he was dating Diane.

"Um, we'll just wait until tomorrow. Does that sound okay?" he asked, watching Jude get off the couch and stretch.

"Yeah, cool with me. I don't mind having the night off for a change. Hey try to get a hold of Jude for me would you. I've been blowing up her cell for the past 30 minutes, and I'm getting no answer."

Tommy watched her as she walked in the kitchen with her hands on her hips pointing to her imaginary watch. She feigned irritation.

He playfully rolled his eyes at her front. "I'm sorry man, what was that?"

"I said call Jude up if you can get a hold of her," Kwest restated.

"Is that Kwest?" she mouthed to him.

He nodded his head at her. "Yeah. I can do that."

Jude walked over and began to kiss him along his collarbone.

"Um…Kwest. I'll talk to you later, man," Tommy breathed, interrupting whatever Kwest was trying to say, as Jude began to trail kisses up his neck.

"Tommy. Man. You got a girl over there don't you," Kwest laughed.

"Affirmative," he responded, as Jude continued to kiss him along his jaw-line.

"That's what I'm talking about dawg, forget Diane,"

"I'll work on that," Tommy gulped, as Jude reaches underneath his shirt and gently drags her fingernails down his bare back.

Jude laughed wickedly at his reaction to her touch, which entailed him closing his eyes and cursing softly under his breath.

"Ooh. Tell me that was not Jude in the background," Kwest gasped.

"Affirmative." Tommy nodded, his eyes closed. Jude reached up and took the phone from him.

"Kwest. Tommy will have to call you back tomorrow," she said.

"Alright now. Don't hurt him." He laughed.

"Shut-up," she smirked, hanging up the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Special thanks to: bookworm0408, musical-cynders, jasmineice, KayKay2007, TommyQLovr, Funkyicecube, ISobsessedXO, TheSouthernBelle, ambeezy707, Catch1star for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. :)**

* * *

They stood and looked at each other their eyes full of amusement, bewilderment, excitement, fright, and all of these other mutual emotions. 

He finally closed in the few inches of space between them and he lifted her onto the counter, his hands once again on her hips circling her waist. He looked her in the eyes leaning in halfway for the kiss. She grinned evilly, prolonging the inevitable for another half a second.

She surrendered herself to the passion; she was unable to sit still. Her hands were almost instantly beneath his shirt again, starting a steady rhythm: up and down and up and down. He held her hips a little more firmly; his breathing becoming a little heavier. The kiss? The kiss goes on and on; it seems like forever. She's the first one to break away to his dismay. He looks at her hungrily, and she pulls him even closer to her.

"Let's loose this right here, uh?" she whispers in his ear, helping him to discard wife-beater as if it was yesterday's newspaper. They continue the kiss, but it's different this time. No longer is it explorative and lingering; this time it's scorching and full of wanting…full of needing.

This time it was him who broke the kiss. She looked at him, her eyes asking why he stopped.

"You don't want to do it in the kitchen do you?" he whispered causing her to laugh. He lifted her off the counter; she instantly wraps her legs around his waist. She was grateful for the lift because she wasn't able to trust her legs at the time. They continued their kiss down the hall to the master bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed, and switched on the lamp on the nightstand.

She's looking at him lustfully from her position on the bed, half sitting half lying down. He sits down on the bed beside her and gently kisses her from her lips down her neck. His hands roamed around the hem of her shirt while his lips kissed around the neckline of the shirt.

He kissed his way back toward her neck and her cheeks to her ear, where he began to gently bite. His hands slid expertly under her shirt to her stomach. He brushed his fingers across her naval.

"We can loose this now can't we?" he asked, eyes smiling.

She nodded her head slowly, letting him remove the shirt for her. She wasn't as brave now. It wasn't like she'd done this too many times before. After the rough first experience with he-who-must-not-be-spoken-of she wasn't too eager to… until now.

He was glad to take over for her though, as he gently pressed her back against the bed, while expertly unsnapping her bra. He was enjoying her letting her guard down for once as she withered under his touch, her breathing becoming more and more erratic. He lay between her legs, kissing her lips, willing to go as slow or as fast as she wanted. He slipped the straps off her shoulders slowly, looking at her reaction. She nodded slightly, her go ahead signal.

"Don't be scared." He whispered, gently stroking her face.

"I'm not scared," she murmured.

"You're trembling girl," he whispered huskily, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.

"That's not fault," she whispered, reaching for the waistband of his jeans. "I think you're wearing too much clothing though."

He gently removed her hand from his jeans, brought to his lips and kissed it. "You know we don't have to do this right…"

"I know," she murmured, as she gently ran her fingertips up and down his ribcage, making him do a little cursing himself.

"There's never been another man on earth that has wanted anything as much as I want you right now," he whispered.

She nodded her head, holding him tighter to her.

"And you have no idea…no idea at all, how much I love you either," he said, caressing her thighs.

"I love you too," she smiled.

* * *

**Yes I noticed Tommy's not in a coma or anything yet. It's coming. Probably in the next couple chapters. You know I had to put some fluff in there though.** :) -AG 


	3. Chapter 3

**It's 5:30 in the morning, yet I'm up finishing up writing this chapter because my reviewers starfan88, Tommys my 21, musical-cynders, Duddley111, KayKay2007, TheSouthernBelle, jadedxL0VE, and Catch1star leave nice comments. Can we go ahead and excuse the grammatical and spelling areas. Again. Note the time. :)**

* * *

He woke up a few hours later to the moon illuminating his whole bedroom, and a beautiful blonde snuggled against his chest. He got up as soundlessly and slowly as possible as to not wake her.

He flung on his sweat pants and padded barefoot and shirtless down the hall to his home studio. He glanced briefly at his Boyz Attack memorabilia to his recent pictures with various G-Major artists and finally to a huge plaque he received from Darius when Jude's sophomore album went platinum.

He swiveled around in his "thinking chair", as Jude called it, and propped his feet up on the soundboard. He noticed that a smile was plastered onto his face and he actually tried to wipe it off with his hand. It didn't work. He took his feet off the soundboard and spun around in his chair again slowly.

Wanting to get down the melody that had been playing in his head since he'd opened the door for Jude earlier, he padded across the hall to his fan appreciation/storage/unofficial music room. He carefully stepped over all the boxes of teddy bears, and other miscellaneous items from fans to the grand piano sitting peacefully by the bay windows. He opened the windows letting air flood the room probably for the first time in a few months. He thought he heard the room sigh with gratitude.

He ran his fingers across the keys checking the tune and overall condition of it. Everything sounded okay so he continued to play little warm-ups, until he finally conveyed to the piano the notes that his heart was pumping out.

As he found the musical notes, the lyrics came just as quickly…he softly hummed the melodic rhythm as his fingers expertly danced across the instrument.

"_Come with me. Close your eyes. Hold my hand. It'll be all right. Don't be scared. Don't be shy. Lift your head… it's gonna be alright_," he sung softly, closing his eyes, letting the music take over his being.

Letting the music catch up with the lyrics, he began to sing again. "_I'll try to make the sun shine brighter for you. I will even play the fool, if it makes you smile…I'll try to make you laugh, if there's a tear in your eye…After all is said…After all is done…I'd do anything for you_…"

He felt a subtle change in the atmosphere of the room. He opened his eyes to see her standing in the doorway wearing just his shirt. He fingers continued to move gracefully across the keys. He acknowledged her presence with a smile and gestured for her to come closer.

"Keep singing," she said softly, leaning on the piano.

"That's all I've got," he grinned, wickedly.

"Then sing what you've got again," she insisted.

He nodded his response, sliding over on the piano bench for her to have seat.

"_Come with me girl_," he sung ever so softly, "_Close your eyes_." He whispered, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She chuckled softly, at his attempt to seduce her—_again_. It was working; she closed her eyes.

"_Hold my hand_," he sang, kissing her hand, playing a simple tune on the piano with one hand. "_It'll be alright. Don't be scared_." He whispered, abandoning the keyboard all together, and gently caressing her face. "_Don't be shy_." He smirked, taking her in his arms possessively.

"Um…I couldn't quite comprehend what you were saying, but I'm I liked it…" Jude responded, opening her eyes.

"That's good," he nodded, standing up, taking a hold of her hand. "Glad you liked it. How about an encore performance…" he smiled.

She looked up at him, bewilderment etched across her face.

"Not that performance," he grinned, pulling her to her feet.

* * *

"I got to go girl," he whispered, kneeling on the side of the bed, rubbing her back. 

"Um…I wish you could just stay here with me… for about forever," she smiled, drowsily rolling on her side to face him.

"You and me both," he sighed, kissing her temple. "You know Jude, I was thinking, you still respect don't you…"

She looked at him, truly baffled. "What?"

"You know, even though I put out on the first night," he said, solemnly, his eyes dancing.

"Quincy," she laughed, rolling back on her stomach. "Get out."

"And now I get kicked out of my own room," he laughed.

"Like I said you don't have to go," she offered.

"Yeah right…do you really _want_ Liam to kill me," he asked.

"Nah," she shook her head.

"See you later," he sighed, walking towards the door.

"See you," she breathed.

She snuggled into the comforter deeply inhaling.

"Sorry, forgot my wallet," he murmured, walking across the room to his dresser.

"You just don't want to leave do you," Jude laughed.

"It seems that way," he chuckled, retrieving it and heading out the door.

"Hey Jude," he said, popping his back in for a final time. "I love you," he winked, waiting outside the door for her reaction.

"Love you too," she yelled.

Glancing quickly around his garage, he remembered his Viper was in the auto shop for a tune up, he opted for the Cobra instead.

Waiting for the garage door to open up, he rummaged through his glove compartment searching for his sunglasses. With the door fully opened, he slowly backed out of the driveway, into the street, shifted to first gear, and sped down the street.

Thinking that he'd never make it through the morning traffic in time to make it to work on time anyway, he stopped at his favorite bakery.

"Hey Tommy Boy," an elderly woman behind the counter waved. He had been coming in the bakery for years now for his personal needs and doughnuts and pastries for the G-major crew. Over the years he and Miss Martha had developed a relationship that he wished he could have had with his own grandmother.

He waved back at the end of a long line. She gestured for him to cut, irritating a few customers but not enough for any of them to say anything as he whispered _family business _and his apologies.

"Hey Martha, how are you doing this morning? I see you're looking beautiful as always," he smiled.

She cut her eyes at him, self consciously wiping flour from her apron. "Um…thank you." Then muttered _liar._ "Why are you in such a good mood?" she asked him. "Usually you come in here looking half dead or wasted."

Tommy chuckled at the older woman using slang. He shook his head. "I am just happy to see you."

"Uh huh. I'm glad to see you coming back in here more regularly since you dropped that Diane girl and dumped out all of her health food nonsense. Wheat never hurt anyone. Look at me…I lived on a farm for most of my life…eating homemade biscuits, whole milk fresh out the cow…and look at me. Healthy as an ox."

Watching a young mother walk in pushing a stroller, Martha quickly switched topics. "Tom you should really get started on having some babies…"

"What?" Tommy laughed, eating a warm crème cheese danish.

"You heard me…since I didn't get to have any grandchildren, I should get to be a grandmother to yours," she nodded. "With all the extra goodies I give you…"

"Okay, Miss Martha," Tommy laughed. "You can be a surrogate grandmother...that won't be a problem."

"Ah. Thank you. Can I get that in writing?" she said, only half jokingly.

"Martha why are you harassing customers again?" Abigail, the owner of the bakery and another one of Martha's unofficial adopted children, yelled from the back of the store.

"I'm not," Martha yelled back.

"Right," she said, sarcastically. "Hey Tommy! You ordering for all of G-major this morning?"

He shook his head, "Nope, I'm being greedy today."

Abigail laughed and disappeared from his sight for a while.

"So who's the new woman," Martha whispered, ringing up another customer.

"She's not exactly new."

"What do you mean? You're not back together with that hussy are you?"

"No ma'am…" Tommy laughed. "She's an old friend of mine."

"Really now? You see that's the way a relationship should start out: just as friends. Me and Harold had known each other since grade school before we started thinking about each other romantically and we were married 56 years!" Tommy nodded listening to the older woman ramble on. "That's what romance is anyway—friendship set on fire…" she smiled, patting his arm.

Tommy nodded, grinning ear to ear.

"Martha!" Abigail laughed, heading towards the front of the store with a huge cake.

Martha rolled her eyes and mouthed, _"We'll talk later." _

Tommy finally exited the bakery, flipping his cell phone out of his front pocket, dialing Liam's number.

"Hey Liam, man I don't think I can make it in today…" he said, feigning a weak voice.

"Uh huh. Not feeling well uh?" Liam replied, disbelieving.

"No," he coughed.

"This illness just came along all of a sudden…you were just fine yesterday," Liam remarked.

"Probably just one of those 24 hour things…" Tommy sighed, knowing Liam wasn't going to go for it.

"Right…" he laughed. "Fine Tom. Take the day off neither you nor **Jude** would be much use around here anyway from what I hear."

Tommy laughed. "Oh and where do you get your information from?"

"That would be Kwest…" Liam chuckled.

"Aha," Tommy said, stepping back in his car with coffee and doughnuts.

"Just don't hurt her man, I'd hate for my fiancé to have to kill you," Liam stated, seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tommy nodded, slipping the key into the ignition. "Sadie would kill me."

"Macerate you…that would describe it even better," Liam snickered.

"I'll talk to you later," Tommy said, pulling out of the parking lot of the bakery.

"Later man," Liam replied, sounding distracted.

* * *

After lying in the bed for the past hour and half, Jude had finally showered and began getting ready for work. She was on her way to the garage to get her clothes from the dryer when she saw a plump, young brunette in a maid 's uniform shining silverware in the kitchen. 

"Oh my god," Jude shrieked, grasping her chest.

"Holy shit, you scared me," Francesca shouted, pointing a candleholder at her.

"Ha, I scared you?" Jude laughed, nervously. "I'm Jude…Tommy's um-" she began.

"Oh I know who you are---the _infamous_ Jude," she laughed, putting down the candleholder and stretching out her hand. "I'm Francesca."

" 'The Infamous Jude'?" Jude asked, looking at her bemusedly.

"Tommy's always talking about you," Francesca laughed, sitting back down at the kitchen bar.

"He is," Jude asked, suddenly even more interested in what she had to say. "Like what?" She asked.

But Francesca, whose attention was glued to the television mounted on the counter, shushed her. Jude leaned on the counter watching the scene that played out on the television. Apparently there was some kind of wreck in the middle of an intersection.

"That looks like Tommy's car…" Jude breathed, having a seat on the barstool.

Francesca nodded, turning the volume of the television up.

"…_the wreck happened earlier this morning around 8:30. The driver of the small convertible was just airlifted to General Hospital about two minutes ago after sustaining major injuries to the head. The passengers of the other vehicle involved in the collision seem to be only slightly injured with injuries ranging from broken bones to sprains. We'll have more details about this accident after these messages_."

"Oh. My. God. That looked like Tommy's car," Jude repeated.

"Uh it's not Tommy, he heads to work at about 7:45…he would have been by work by 8:30." Francesca theorized, twirling her thick, curly hair around her finger.

"Francesca how many cars like that are in this country?" Jude asked.

"You have a point," Francesca agreed. "I'll just call him on his cell…"

She quickly picked up the kitchen phone and dialed. "It's out of service range." She sighed.

"Okay, try to call again. I'm going get dressed, and then I'll call the studio," Jude smiled, trying to look like she wasn't upset.

Jude got dressed in the garage in less than a minute. She put on her shirt as she reentered the kitchen.

"No answer," Francesca breathed."Don't worry…he usually has it off while recording anyway," She reminded, quickly dialed the number to the studio.

"Hey Liam," Jude breathed. "Can I speak to Tommy?"

"I don't know **can** you?" he snickered.

"Liam," Jude said, letting out a nervous laugh. "_May_ I speak to Tommy please?"

"No,"

"Liam," Jude rolled her eyes.

"No really you can't. You could but he asked for a sick day this earlier this morning. Therefore he's not here." Liam replied.

"Oh my gosh," Jude gasped.

"What's the matter, Babe," Liam asked, getting concerned.

"Um…I haven't seen him since this morning Liam," Jude sighed, clutching the phone to her ear, and placing her head in her hands. "There's been a report of an accident near the freeway."

"Jude look," Francesca said, pointing towards the television.

"Um…Liam, I'm going to call you back. Turn it to channel 7," she said, hanging up the phone.

"…_ladies and gentlemen we have more news about the accident that occurred earlier this morning near exit number 27 on highway 71. The driver of the small convertible has been identified as Thomas Quincy, also known as Lil Tommy Q from the 90's boy band Boyz Attack. We will be filling you in with incoming details for the rest of this morning addition of Channel 7 Daybreak_."

Jude gathered her purse and her jacket from where she dropped the on the floor the night before. "I've got to get the hospital," Jude exhaled, extremely calm. Too calm.

"I'll drive you honey," Francesca offered.

* * *

**So that was a little on the long side. Sorry. :(**


	4. Chapter 4

Another chapter…I'm spoiling yall…I'm on spring break now…when school starts back I will probably be able to update like once a week. But until then…enjoy the long and frequent updates. :)

BTW: The lyrics in chapter three were by Phil Collins—the song was called "come with me". I'd never heard the song in my life until I found the lyrics of the song randomly…

Special thanks to: jadedxL0VE, Erin McKinley, Duddley111, Funkyicecube, KayKay2007, Tommy4eva, jasmineice, musical-cynders, and melodie568 for being amazing and R&Ring.

* * *

**2 years, 3 months, 5 days later…**

She sat in her huge, cushioned swivel chair in her quiet little office. A lot of things had changed around G-Major since—since it happened. She had since assumed his position as Vice President of G-Major Records.

There were now three more Instant Stars, making a total of five. Kwest was now one of the hottest producers in the business, with Jude as his right hand man on most of his projects. But the biggest change was Jude not performing—not singing at all.

She was strictly songwriter these days. She hadn't recorded one single musical note since she finished up her junior album, the album that she had started with _him_ and finished with just her and Kwest.

Sadie burst into the room shattering Jude's thoughts. Jude looked up at her briefly before continuing her game of solitaire on her laptop. "Hey Sadie, you look gorgeous."

"Not too bad for a woman who just gave birth few months ago uh?" Sadie chuckled, twirling around in her long gown, and striking a pose.

Jude looked up at her to further examine her outfit. She was wearing a floor length, backless, black evening gown. "Not bad at all." Jude whistled.

"Why thank you," Sadie beamed. She looked at Jude, lounging in a pair of blue jeans and a wife beater. "Jude why aren't you at your final fitting," Sadie sighed, "Jude your big night is tomorrow! Three of your songs were nominated for Grammy's…hello get more excited. Jump around!"

"I'm happy," Jude argued, plastering a fake smile to her face.

"Jude—you can't mope around for the rest of your life."

Jude put her hand up to silence her. "Sadie. I don't want to hear this," she sighed; she knew her sister had her best interest at heart. But she was getting that deja vu feeling, probably because she'd heard the same speech from her the night of every "must see event" for the past year or so. She could already predict the words from her sister's lips.

"Jude," she said, placing her hand on her hip and tapping her foot on the floor.

"You never want to do anything anymore, but this is the friggin Grammy's! You are not going to stay here writing another sad love song," Sadie said hotly. "We, and I speaking for everyone who loves you, are getting tired of having to drag your ass out of your house or out of studio or out of this damn office…"

Jude began to tune her out, trying to send telepathic messages to Jude. _Go away Sadie. Go away Sadie. Go away Sadie. Please just go away_.

"…I know you're hurting sis, you cannot let life pass you by because of _one_ tragedy. We all miss Tommy," Sadie said. "Think about how Diane feels! The love of her life is in a friggin coma."

_Diane? Fuck Diane_. Jude thought harshly. She crossed her arms of her chest, looking at Sadie, threateningly.

"What would Tommy want Jude? He'd want you to continue to do what you do…make music. Jude you need to let him go…he may never wake from this stage. If he does, he may never be like he was," Sadie said, sorrowfully, placing her hand on Jude's shoulder.

Jude looked at Sadie's hand on her shoulder. She didn't look like the additional part of Sadie's lecture.

"Sadie! Just stop it okay," Jude said, her voice shaking with anger. "You know nothing."

"I know most things…I know about your silly little schoolgirl crush on him," Sadie interrupted. "I know that you're hurting. I know that you can't go on living like a hermit."

Jude vehemently shook Sadie's hand off her shoulder, rolling her chair back to put a couple feet between them. "Get out." She breathed, her eyes burning holes into Sadie's.

Sadie shook her head slowly, walking towards the door. She paused, stopping at the doorframe to look at her sister one more time. Jude began to send her telepathic messages again. Just go now. Please just go now. Sadie sadly exited the room, entering her husband's office across the hall.

Jude left her chair, and stood at the large window behind her desk that overlooked the busy city streets. She leaned her head against the cool glass, willing her heart to stop racing.

Her memories quickly took of over her thoughts, taking her back to that day.

* * *

"_Mr. Quincy has suffered massive head and brain trauma to the head. We operated on him immediately at his arrival but--"_

"_Is he okay," Diane had asked, her bottom lip trembling slightly. She was in her Ralph Lauren business suit with white Keds that had replace her Jimmy Choos. _

_Jude stared at the young Dr. Reynolds, taking the seat that the doctor had suggested she take at the beginning of this discussion. At first she was sure she could handle it standing up, but now she wasn't so sure. Her heart felt like it had permanently contracted. She couldn't breath; her stomach was in knots. She glanced nervously at the trashcan on the other side of the small waiting room that she, Francesca, Diane, Kwest, Liam, Sadie, and Diane's mother were sitting in. _

"_I'm not sure ma'am… the surgery to release some of the pressure of his brain against his skull. The surgery went well, but Mr. Quincy still isn't responding to relativity or perceptivity--"_

"_What the hell does that mean?" Jude snapped, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room. _

"_Mr. Quincy seems to be in a coma--"_

"_What?" Jude and Diane exclaimed, disbelievingly. Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath, exchanging nervous, anxious looks with one another._

"_That means he is unable to be aroused to consciousness--" the doctor began._

"_I'm pretty sure we all know what that means dumb ass," Jude exclaimed, jumping to her feet and running into the hall. She ran into the stairwell, running up four straight flights of stairs. She collapsed on a landing of stairs, finally breaking down and crying. _

* * *

"Jude. Jude…earth to Jude." Her memory dissolved as someone shook her. 

"What?" She snapped, her voice sharper than she had intended.

"Whoa killer," Francesca said, taking a couple feet away from her with her hands up in the air as if she were surrendering.

Jude placed her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry Francesca, I didn't mean to bite."

"Yeah, yeah," Francesca said, waving her outburst off. "I just came in here to tell you Kat said quote if you're ass isn't at that final fitting within the next hour, she's kicking your ass all the way to her studio unquote."

Jude laughed, bemused. "She did, did she?"

"Go ahead and spill girl...you know I was eavesdropping on you and Sadie," Francesca said, flat out. She walked around back to the front of her desk pulling up a chair. "Sit and tell." She ordered.

Jude shook her head. Sometimes she didn't know what she'd do without Francesca; she'd been there for her every since that day. She was a genuinely good person, and after Tommy's accident she needed a job so Jude hired her as her secretary/personal assistant. "Sadie is such a bitch sometimes."

"Could be postpartum blues…" Francesca cut in, shrugging at her.

"No that's the way she was pre-baby," Jude smiled, rolling her eyes. "She just—ooh I don't even know. She thinks she knows everything since went through the whole child-birthing thing. Whoopty doo."

"You know you're tripping right," Francesca smirked, crossing her arms over chest. She was blunt and in your face, which was precisely why Jude liked her around. She didn't suck up to her and she was always truthful. Jude liked that she didn't kiss her ass just because she was famous. Which was probably why Tommy hired her. "What's really the matter honey? I'm sure Sadie being a bitch isn't exactly what's bothering you…"

"It's just…everyone's always 'Jude--time of mourning should be up by now, get over it,' and I'm not ready to let him go. I shouldn't have to, people have been in a comatose stage up to 31 years and still recover fully."

"Really," Francesca asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I googled it," Jude shrugged, sniffling. "And then Sadie had to bring up Diane…"

"Oh," Francesca nodded, knowingly. "That's why you're upset."

"What is up with her? She's acting like they never broke up. Starting a Tommy Quincy Foundation? She's acting like the brokenhearted girlfriend…did you see her on Entertainment television tonight?" Jude asked, blowing her nose.

"Yes," Francesca nodded, "She was fat." Francesca added, trying to make Jude feel better.

"I thought so too, but I wasn't going to say anything," Jude hiccupped, wiping her tears with the back of her hands.

"You know, Sadie doesn't know about what you and Tom had that last night," Francesca reminded her. "You never got the chance to tell her about it."

"I know, but she shouldn't assume it was just a "silly schoolgirl crush"…you know?" Jude sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"I understand, honey," Francesca said, handing her more Kleenex. "Should I go tell Kat she doesn't have to send in SWAT team to get you into your dress this time?"

Jude laughed, "Yeah."

* * *

"—and she has to start living again one day Liam. She's only twenty-one; she cannot go the rest of her friggin life just mourning something she never even had right? How can you miss something you never had?" Sadie raged, in a sound booth. 

"Wait a minute, Sades…what do you mean something she never had?" Liam asked, confused. He stood near the soundproof glass, staring at his new baby girl who was fast asleep in her bassinet, unaware of her raging mother.

"You know... it's not like her and Tommy ever had a thing…" Sadie exhaled, sitting on a stool in the corner.

Liam looked her anxiously.

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?" Sadie asked crossly.

"Um…" Liam began, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't you remember Diane and Tom breaking up?"

"Well yeah, but they were on and off again all the time," Sadie replied, waving his comment off.

"But that last time, it was _really_ over," Liam nodded, putting emphasis on 'really'. "He and um Jude had a little budding something going on."

"How do you know?" Sadie asked, generally interested.

"Well Tommy had called in that day sick to spend the day with her," Liam explained.

"So they always spent their little special days with each other working on music," Sadie shrugged.

"Well…he called to spend the day with her after he had spent the _night_ with her…" Liam explained, looking at her nodding his head.

Sadie brought her hand to her mouth. "Ooooh…shut-up," Sadie gasped. "Are you serious?"

Liam nodded.

Sadie got up and started pacing from wall to wall. "I just told her that she just had a _schoolgirl crush _on him…I am an asshole," she realized, beginning to bite her thumbnail.

Liam didn't object. She punched his arm.

"Ouch." He growled in pain. "What was that for?" he asked, stupidly.

"Why am I always the last one to know everything?" Sadie grumbled. "I should go apologize to Jude…"

"Yeah that would probably be a good idea," Liam nodded.

"Yes, I suppose it would," Sadie rolled, mocking his accent. She hated it to be wrong, and she hated it even more when he was right.

"You still suck at that darling," Liam chuckled, following her out of the sound booth.

"Kiss off," she laughed, in her fake accent.

"Been there, done that," he said in a singsong tone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Short fluff-filled chapter dedicated to: KayKay2007, anberzen, buttlow, musical-cynders, melodie568, Tommy4eva, ticia-rockinmysoxoff, jadedxL0VE, Duddley111, Funkyicecube, and Erin McKinley because they are fabulous.**

* * *

"Um, you are not wearing that dress," Portia stated, flatly. She was leaning against the wall of the dressing room. Her one arm crossed over chest the other trying to conceal a smirk. 

"Why can't she?" Kat snapped. "The dress is _it_."

"Oh my god. Why'd I let you talk me into giving you creative reign over that girl's wardrobe? For the Grammy's?" Portia asked, rhetorically. "Kat that dress is not going to get it. The Grammy's is not the place to be wearing…well not to be wearing things like that."

"It's couture."

"Save it for the runway then honey…" Portia snapped. "That is not Grammy material. She looks like a cross between Bat Girl and Jane Jetson and Cindy Brady. Jude—have I not taught you anything the last couple of years?"

Jude glanced in the mirror at the maroon colored extremely short baby doll type dress. Kat and Portia both looked at her expectantly.

"I like it," Jude replied, earning her a disbelieving glare from Portia.

"Ha!" Kat smiled, gloating.

"But she's right, Kat, it's not very Grammy appropriate."

"Ha!" Portia mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Fine…" Kat snapped. "Don't wear my dress."

"Kat," Jude sighed. "I'm still going to wear one of your dresses. It's tradition here."

"Whatever," Kat responded, waving it off, twirling a pair of scissors around her finger, making Portia and Jude a little nervous. "Go ahead… look around the boutique for something else then."

Jude got out of the get up and into her regular clothes. When she exited the dressing room, Portia already had an armful of gowns for her to try on.

"Let's try this one first," Portia said, gently pushing her back in the stall with a jade satin cocktail dress.

She came out a few minutes later…Portia and Kat were apparently buddies again as they lounged in the front of the boutique with wine coolers, whispering like a couple of conspirators.

She coughed, making them acknowledge her presence. They glanced up at her. "Nah…" they said in unison.

"I like it," Jude responded, defensively, turning to look in a near by mirror.

"Nah, Jude, it's not working for you honey," Portia grimaced.

"Well damn," Jude rolled her eyes.

"It's because you have a flat ass," Kat concluded.

"Damn," Jude reiterated. She had to love their frankness. In the music industry few people ever told her the truth, and she tried to keep the people that did have her best interest at heart in her inner circle.

"It's true," Portia put in, patting her shoulder. She got up and handed her another dress. "Here try this one," Portia suggested.

Jude looked at the halter dress. It was a light gold color made of a shimmering satin material attached to a beaded necklace. She fingered the deep cowl neckline. She smiled to herself; she knew this was the one even though neither Kat nor Portia trusted her fashion sense most of the time. But the color was going to go great with her newly dyed medium dark hair. She stepped into the dressing room, sliding it over her hips, and halfway zipping it up herself.

She walked out of the dressing room barefooted. "Will one of you zip me up please?" she asked, once again interrupting their little conversation. They looked at her for a few seconds open-mouthed, and then they both started talking at the same time.

Kat jumped off the white sofa and rushed over to zip her up.

"Jude, you look gorgeous!" Portia breathed, standing up to join them.

Jude raised her eyebrows at them, wondering if it was just her imagination or were they not just saying how flat assed she was. She looked at herself in one of the numerous full-length mirrors. _Not bad_ she thought.

"Ah," Kat sighed, looking at her in the mirror to. "The House of Katerina does it again."

Jude stared at herself in the mirror, fingering the twisted waist detail that circled the dress. "I do look pretty good uh?'

"Yeah once we do something about these," Kat said, cupping her breast.

"Hey now," Jude exclaimed, brushing her away, giving her a stuned stare.

"Well…" Kat laughed. "They're a little saggy.

Jude gaped at her. She hugged her chest. "They are not."

"Don't worry about it," Portia sighed. "My left one is a little bigger than my right."

"I'm basically flat," Kat confessed. "Can you say water bra?"

Portia and Jude laughed at her frankness.

"I don't care, and Jamie doesn't either," Kat boasted.

"Ugh, mental image," Jude gasped.

Portia began to fan her with her hand. "It is okay Jude, come on think springtime, meadows, weeping willows, deer prancing in a field…"

Jude and Portia busted out laughing.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Kat mocked, rolling her eyes.

"A split would be good," Portia suggested.

"Yeah you're right," Kat agreed. "How far mid thigh?"

"Yeah that would be good." Portia nodded.

Jude stood there quietly, like a doll as they decided on what alterations needed to be made to the dress. After they got finished conversing, she hurried and got dressed quickly.

She came out once again interrupting Kat and Portia's little conspiracy.

"Okay. Tell me," she sighed, flopping on the sofa.

"What?" They asked in unison.

"Whatever you're planning or talking about or whatever…just go ahead and tell me please."

"I think you're a little paranoid," Kat laughed, nervously. "Come spell this new Liz Claiborne perfume." She said, obviously changing the subject.

Jude looked at her suspiciously. She knew she was lying.

_God I hate secrets_. She thought as she sprayed the perfume.

It smelled like wildflowers and the ocean. Her memories quickly flashed back to a time when she and Tommy needed to meet some deadlines and they both were out of creative ideas. So they jumped in his viper and headed for the shore for a couple of days.

"_I'd love to live here," Jude grinned, jumping down from the boardwalk and plopping down in the sand. "I think I am." _

"_Go ahead then," Tommy replied, encouragingly, sitting in the sand next to her. _

"_I am!" Jude confirmed. "I'm going to build a huge house too."_

"_Sure…you should…" Tommy responded, laughing at her enthusiasm._

"_I am," Jude nodded. "Yup. I can see it now, me and my husband are going to have 7 kids-"_

"_You two are going to be kind of busy," Tommy snickered, sifting the sand through his fingers_

"_Yeah," she whispered, thinking. She finally caught on to what he was insinuating. "You're perverted…"_

"_What?" he asked, innocently._

_She gently shoved him. "I'm only having 3 maybe 4, but we're going to adopt."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes."_

"_What if your husband doesn't want to have kids…"_

"_He'll want to have kids…"_

"_How do you know?"_

"_Because I'd ask him before we got married," she said. "Marriage doesn't have to be as hard as people make it, you know…"_

"_How would you know?" he asked, patronizingly. _

"_I just know!" she laughed, throwing her head back, her hair looking hazardous in the sea breeze. "How many kids do you want?"_

"_Seven." He smiled, pulling her hat down over her eyes. _

"Jude, Jude. Jude!" Portia and Kat were calling her.

"Sorry," she said, trying to push the memory to the back of her mind. "Yeah?"

"You okay honey," Portia asked, looking at her anxiously.

Jude waved her off. "I'm fine. I'm going to get started back home though, before it gets any later."

"Okay," Kat and Portia said in unison.

Kat walked over and unlocked the door for her. "Call me when you get home girl?" she said hugging her.

"Me too," Portia called. "And see you in the morning at 9 sharp."

Jude sighed and rolled her eyes. "So basically you'll be seeing me in 8 hours?" she summarized.

"Give or take a few minutes," Portia shrugged, grinning wickedly.

"Bye guys," Jude laughed, walking towards her car that was parked on the curb.

Kat shut the door and leaned against it. "We should tell her…"

"It's probably a false alarm though. We shouldn't give her false hope," Portia sighed, flopping back onto the sofa.

"But this is big. Huge. Gigantic!"

"I get your point," Portia responded, rolling her eyes. "But he's just gaining some of his reactivity back…it's not that big of a deal. Is it?"

"Uh yeah. That means he's in a light coma. If he's gaining most of his reactivity back that means that he's responding to certain stimuli like light or hearing. And that is a big thing when you're in a coma. It means he's getting certain reflexes back," Kat said, as she wound up her measuring tape. She glanced up at Portia who was looking at her curiously. "What?"

"How do you know all of this?"

"I listen to Jamie sometimes," she shrugged.

"So he's in a light coma now?"

"Yes. He could wake up any day or in a few months or another year," Kat said.

"See that's why we shouldn't get her hopes up…" Portia exclaimed.

"I see your point." Kat nodded.

"Thank you." Portia smiled.

"But we should still tell her. She'd want to know. She should know. Do you not think she'll be a pissed if everyone knows but her?"

"You've got a point too," Portia shrugged.

"Thank you," Kat smirked.

"You can tell her then," Portia said, making a dash for the door. "See you in the morning."

"Hey!" Kat exclaimed, but Portia was already out the door. "Heifer…" she grumbled.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm so happy that I can log-on now. You have no idea. And I thought I only got one review for the last chapter but it was more like 16 thanks to some wonderful reviewers (Erin McKinley, TommyQLovr, melodie568, strawberrigashes, anberzen, Tommy4eva, ISobsessedXO, starfan88, Duddley111, musical-cynders, KayKay2007, jadedxL0VE, Funkyicecube, eFFiNxDoRk, STAR2008, Little Eirtae.) So here's the next Chapter...it's pretty lengthy to make up for lack of updates here lately.**

* * *

"I love this dress," Jude smiled, admiring her reflection in the mirror of her hotel/dressing room suite. 

"You're welcome," Kat called from across the room. She was getting her hair straightened by Monique No-last-name.

"Thank you Kat," she smiled.

"Ah don't thank me now, thank me when Joan Rivers ask you who made your dress on the red carpet uh?"

Jude rolled her eyes, as she daintily sat on a chair. "I will."

Portia waddled into the room, her fingernails and toenails still wet, talking on her cell phone. "Darius! Now you aren't going to be yelling at me like that. I've got everything under control over here. You just worry about you…okay? Okay." She snapped, thrusting her cell into the pocket of her robe.

"Oh. My. God. Why aren't you guys ready yet. We have to be downstairs and in that limo in 2 hours. Kat why isn't your hair finished?'

"I don't know ask Monique…." Kat shrugged.

"Um—you've seen this woman's hair before right?" Monique asked, earning herself a glare from Kat. "No, kidding. I'll be finished in another 20-30 minutes,"

"What's your excuse," Portia asked, stealing the hair dryer off the vanity to dry her nails more quickly.

"Who me?" Jude asked, innocently.

"Yes you."

"What? I'm good to go."

Portia looked at her like she was stupid and then pointed to the purple bunny slippers on her feet.

"Um—those heels you picked out are going kill me feet, and I'm not putting them on until I see the red carpet." She replied, crossing her arms in defiance.

Portia rolled her eyes. It was one of those times when she just had to pick her battles. "Whatever. Go across the hall and see how your sister is doing would you please?"

"I'm going."

The moment Portia heard her exit the main door of the suite; she turned the blow dryer off. "I'm guessing you haven't told her…"

"No." Kat shook her head, burning her ear on the hot comb. "Monique!"

"Ha. You did that yourself." Monique said.

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Why didn't you?" Kat fired back.

"We agreed--"

"Don't even go there. You know you just ran out the room leaving me there."

Monique watched them both arguing between each other with great interest.

"And another thing, she knows you best. You should tell her." Portia fussed.

"Whatever," Kat snapped, rolling her eyes.

"What didn't you tell her?" Monique asked, after hearing their bickering for the past few minutes.

"About Tom…" Portia said, briefly explaining Tommy's new condition.

"Well nice job, now even the hairdresser knows before Jude does," Kat said, shaking her head again. "Dammit."

"You don't like your ear too much do you uh?" Monique chuckled. "So…you two aren't going to tell her?"

Portia suddenly developed great fascination in the hand lotion bottle and Kat finally noticed the imaginary lint on the arm of her robe.

Monique glanced between the two and tisked. "Why not? It's good news."

"We don't want to give her false hope…" Kat ssaid, after a few seconds,

"Well you know I don't want to get up in your business--" Monique started.

"Too late," Portia snickered, applying lotion to her arms.

Monique paused and glared at Portia for a few seconds before she continued. "Anyway…I don't think I'd tell her either."

"Really?" Portia and Kat said in unison, suddenly interested in what she had to say.

Jude walked across the hall and knocked on the door of Liam and Sadie's suite.

"Come on in…" Sadie called. "Ah, Jude you look so beautiful." She gasped.

"You too," Jude smiled. "Sadie, do not take any pictures. Sadie!"

"Sorry Jude. But mom sacrificed herself and stayed home with the Layla so the least I can do is capture the moments for her. Strike a pose."

Jude laughed at her sister in voyeur mode. "Ah. May I just say that I love the slippers…they just go fabulous with the dress."

"Why thank you. The dress is by Katerina Benton. And the shoes? Oh they're just off the rack at Wal-Mart."

"Lovely darling, may I just say that you are just working that outfit," Sadie grinned.

"Thank you," Jude smirked, coping an apple from the fruit basket on the coffee table. She turned on the television, making herself comfortable.

"Darius! We're ready! We'll be in the limo at 6:30 sharp as planned," Liam sighed, pacing through the living room to the kitchen for a bottle of water. "Your driver is scheduled to pick you up as soon as your plane lands. I'm aware that your plane lands at 7:45. I've got everything under control."

"Oy…that man," He grumbled, hanging up.

"You have to love him," Jude called from the living room.

"I suppose," Liam sighed again.

* * *

Jude hid out in their suite for the next half hour trying not to doze off or get to get comfortable so she wouldn't mess up her curls. She restlessly flipped through the channels, not finding anything. "What else is new," she grumbled, getting off the sofa and heading back towards her room. She walked in to see Kat and Portia and Francesca and Kwest all fully dressed. 

"Wow, you all clean up nicely…" She smiled.

"Well you know, I try…" Portia said, posing.

"What are you talking about? We always look this good," Francesca joked, from her spot in Kwest's lap.

Kat raised an eyebrow. "Well I do anyway."

They all looked at her curiously. "I was kidding."

"Right…" Portia chuckled.

Jude rolled her eyes and sat on the arm of the sofa near Kwest. "How can you stand all the estrogen floating around in this room right now?" she whispered.

"Well you know, I try to just nod and agree with everyone," he commented.

"And in case of an argument?"

"If I just agree with Francesca I'm usually good," he smirked, following Francesca around the room as she tried to help Portia look for her cell phone. "Nice shoes by the way."

"Thank you."

After a few minutes Sadie strolled into the suite with her camera demanding group pictures.

Liam strode in next interrupting the group's joking/happy atmosphere. He cleared his throat, causing them all to glance up and acknowledge his presence. "Its 6:10 ladies…and gentleman," he said, noticing Kwest. "Let's get started downstairs shall we?"

Kwest stood up and slipped on his jacket completing his Armani suit. "Hey I'm going ahead to the lobby Francesca." He called, walking into the hall with Liam.

"Okay," she sighed, watching him walk away, until she was painfully aware of Jude staring at her.

"What?" she exclaimed, blushing profusely. "He's looking good in that suit."

Jude through her hands up, "I didn't say anything."

"Why does he want to be with me though," she thought aloud.

"Because you're you…" Jude explained.

She rolled her eyes at that explanation. "But he could be with anyone of those little skinny models."

"Apparently that's not his type…" Portia called out, holding her cell phone up in triumphant as she found it.

"Who's not whose type," Sadie asked, pausing her conversation with Kat for a while.

"Skinny models aren't Kwest's type." Portia said, filling them in.

"Not anymore anyway…every since he found he little curvaceous Italian woman," Sadie teased.

A smile crept across her face. "Curvaceous uh? I wish I was all skinny like you…"

"Honey please, no one's happy with their body really. We were just talking about that last night…Jude's flat assed, Kat's flat chested, and I need to leave the doughnuts over at Krispy Kreme alone."

"I'm happy with myself," Sadie piped up. "Too bad some of my self-confidence will disappear when I stop breast-feeding though." She sighed, mournfully, looking down at her chest.

They all laughed good-naturedly, but Jude's laugh was only half-heartedly really. She was ready to go through the insecure moments of being in a relationship like Francesca. She was ready to start planning her marriage like Kat, and she was ready to start her little family like Sadie.

"Aren't you worried that you'll might—you know leak?" Francesca asked.

Sadie knocked on the wooden coffee table beside her and said, "Well, if mom feeds the Layla when she's supposed to I probably won't have any problems, but I have a change of clothes this time. See I've learned from past mistakes. " She laughed, referring to two months prior at Jamie and Kat's engagement party.

"That's good to know," Portia piped up, handing Jude her shoes. "But we need to get on out of her for Liam kills us."

"Agreed," Francesca laughed, grabbing her purse.

"I know right, he'll pop a blood vessel on us," Kat snickered, collecting her things as well and following Portia and Francesca out the door of the suite.

"You coming Jude?" Sadie asked, standing in the doorway. She glanced over at her sister. She was sitting on the sofa with her shoes in her hand, staring off into space.

"You coming?" Kat called to Sadie, holding the elevator for them.

"No, we'll be down in like a minute Jude can't find her cell."

"Okay," Kat shrugged.

Sadie shut the door, and walked wearily over to Jude and stooped in front of her. "What's the matter sweetie?" she asked.

Jude looked up at her tearfully. "Nothing. I'm good."

"Oh. Please. Do I look like a complete dumb ass?" Sadie smiled.

"Well sometimes," Jude sniffled.

Sadie rolled her eyes and wiped her little sister's tears. "Well don't let the blonde hair fool you okay?" she said hugging her. "I know you miss him." she whispered. "I didn't know about you and Tommy…Liam told me yesterday."

Jude's tears began to fall more freely at the sound of his name. "It's okay you didn't know. I meant to tell you."

"It's okay," Sadie said, stroking her hair. "I probably would have been a little pissed if you would have told me anyway. But it's okay now. I can actually fathom me not being someone's perfect girl now. You and Tommy had--"

"Have," Jude corrected, with a grin.

"_Have_ that extra something…the extra something that Liam and me have. I get it, I get it now."

Jude nodded.

"Okay, you're going to have to stop crying now because if you don't stop crying then I'm going to start too, and waterproof mascara can only do so much."

Jude had to laugh. She was beginning to wonder where her sister was and who had replaced her with this understanding woman. But it was still the same Sadie, just not so self-absorbed.

"Thanks Sadie," Jude smiled, letting her fix her make up with a Kleenex.

"Not a problem," she sighed. "Okay let's go before Liam calls the SWAT team or something."

* * *

The two sisters finally made it to the lobby to see that Jamie had finally showed up. 

"Hey Jamie," Jude squealed, hugging him tightly.

"Hey Jude, _don't make it bad_…" he sang, in her ear.

She groaned. "Please don't go there." She laughed.

"_Take a sad song and make it better_…" he continued.

She loosened her grip around is neck and looked him up and down from his unruly hair to his pinstripe suit to his converses. She had to laugh. He was basically the same Jamie just a little more sophisticated.

"It's good see you Jamie," she nodded.

She hadn't in fact seen him in about a month and half. Their scheduling had always been a little screwy with him looking for the next Instant Star and her not getting out these days.

"Excuse me people can we _please_ move the vehicle…" Liam pleaded frantically, holding the door for everyone.

"Calm down babe, we are right on time," Sadie said, walking out the door after Portia and Francesca.

"Which means we're late…"

"Or not," Sadie argued, kissing his cheek.

"Or not," he nodded, following out the door after her.

Jude rolled her eyes, laughing at the two's interaction. She was walking out the door as she felt the familiar vibration of her cell phone in her bag. She couldn't help but to wonder who was calling since basically everyone she knew and loved was with her… besides her parents.

"Hello?"

"Jude? Hi, this is Liyah, I don't know if you remember me or not-- from Bryant's center in Toronto--" she explained.

"Oh. Hello Liyah," she interrupted. _God please don't let this be bad news._

"This is regarding Thomas Quincy--"

"What is it?" Jude breathed, ignoring Liam beckoning her to get into the stretch.

"Well it's pretty remarkable news actually," Liyah began.

Jude began to feel lightheaded as she heard Liyah's next words. Jude was already crying and she didn't even feel it. "It seems that Mr. Quincy has made an almost complete recovery. He's fully conscious and responding to--"

Jude dropped the phone from her ear and she leaned against the side of the limousine.

Liam immediately ran over to her to steady her.

"Jude? Are you there…" Liyah called.

Jude brought the phone back to her ear, trying to comprehend what she was trying to tell her.

"Yes I'm here," Jude whispered, ignoring everyone's questioning looks. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, Jude," Liyah chuckled softly, "He's wide awake and asking for you."

"I'm on my way," Jude said, hanging up abruptly, and placing her head in her hands.

By this time everyone was back outside of the limo, looking at her worriedly. She stopped crying and dried the loose tears. "I need keys. Like now." She said, holding her hand out.

"What?" they all asked simultaneously. "What do you need keys for?'

"That was a nurse at Bryant's Center calling about Tommy. He's conscious. He's awake." She whispered, talking more to herself than them.

"Shut up," Sadie gasped, covering her mouth, and hugging Jude.

Jude felt numb with joy.

Jude politely pulled herself from the enormous group hug that was smothering her. "I have to go. Now." She replied, wiping her fresh tears.

Jamie tossed her his car keys. "It's parked right there," he said pointing to a Lincoln Navigator.

"Um…she is not driving by herself," Liam rolled his eyes and snatching the keys before she caught them. "She does not need to be driving at the moment."

Jude's eyes flashed with anger. "Liam. If you do not give me those keys…"

Liam stepped a few feet away from her.

"I'll go with you Jude," Francesca offered.

"No, I don't want you to miss the show." She said, still glaring at Liam.

"You could just ride to the airport with the bodyguards," Portia suggested, pointing to the black SUV parked behind the limo.

"Portia, I love you," Jude smiled, kissing her cheek. "I'll see you all later, I'll call you when I get to Toronto." She said in a rush, trying to hug everyone.

"Love you," she called over her shoulder, running the short distance to the other SUV.

She tapped on the window startling the extremely tall, muscular man dressed in black in the driver's seat.

"Yes Miss Harrison," he greeted her as he rolled down the window.

"I need a ride Bob," she smiled, almost saying his full nickname: Bob the builder.

He unlocked the door and shook his partner, Mickey awake. "Where to?"

"Airport." She responded.

"No Grammy's this year Miss Harrison," Mickey asked, yawning.

"No. I've got to go see someone," she smiled, waving to her family as she passed them all. They were still on the sidewalk flabbergasted.

* * *

**Duh--I Don't own "Hey Jude" by the fabulous classical Beatles... I don't own Krispy Kreme or Wal-Mart either if that's necessary. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Filler chapter...another chapter inlike the next 48 hours maybe. Especially if my wonderful reviewers: Erin McKinley, Tommy4eva, bookworm0408, pinkXXpunkXXprincess, GiliwasCool, jadedxL0VE, burninsecretskept,** **TommyQLovr, BrokenDreamsx3,** **anberzen, ****Kris10rox, musical-cynders, melodie568, 0xoox0friendless0xoox0, Funkyicecube, KayKay2007, ISobsessedXO, Duddley111, and strawberrigashes keep giving me feedback. Thanks so much.  
**

* * *

Jude quickly thanked Bob and Mickey for the ride and ran through the entrance of the private airport nearly knocking someone off their feet. 

"Sorry," she called, over her shoulder, then coming to a quick halt, and turning around to face the person.

"Jude! What the hell? What are you doing here girl?" Darius demanded.

"Um, it's kind of a long story and I have to head back to Toronto like ASAP," she said, still walking backwards.

"Well you have plenty of time if you want to go on my plane because it has to be refueled," he said, gesturing for her to follow him. "So what's the rush?"

Jude glanced out the window at a few planes being refueled and sighed. "Tom's awake."

"Not much of a story," Darius smirked.

"I know. I just need to go see him," Jude responded, sitting down in the lobby adjacent to the chair Darius was sitting in.

"You know he will be there later on tonight. There's no big rush. You could just go ahead go the Grammy's and get a later flight tonight."

Jude looked at him incredulously. "Um, I think I've waited long enough," She snapped, crossing her legs. _Really which one is more important going to go see the man of (literally) your dreams or the 52 annual Grammy awards? Then again I won't know until I see him again…_

"Hey," he said, throwing his hands up, as if he was surrendering. "Just a thought…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bite," she sighed, drumming her fingernails on the arm of her chair.

"Not a problem," Darius responded waving her apology off. "Just don't let it happen again." He clarified, standing up and replacing his sunglasses. "But I'll see you when I see you, since I can't force you to come to back with me to the Grammy's. Right?"

Jude shook her head slowly from side to side, a smile slowly forming across her face. "Nope, you can't."

"Too bad that dress is going to waste then. You look beautiful Jude," he said, kissing her cheek. "Have a safe flight uh?"

"Okay. Thanks Darius," she smiled, hugging him.

"Here you might need this by the way," he said, throwing her his I-Pod. "On loan."

* * *

"Do you think she's okay?" Sadie whispered to Liam who was seated at her right. 

"She's fine babe," Liam whispered, not giving her his full attention, instead it was on John Legend's soulful performance.

"How do you know?" She whispered. "I should have gone with her."

"Nah, she needed to go by herself," Francesca said, whispered from behind them.

"Yeah, you're right," Sadie whispered back.

"But what if he doesn't remember her or something? She might need emotional support," Kat put in, from Liam's other side.

"I should have gone with her," Sadie reiterated, shaking her head sadly.

"He'll remember her," Liam snapped, "If he remembers anyone I'm sure it will be her. Now would you ladies sit back and try to enjoy the performance." He hissed.

They promptly ignored him and continued their conversation quietly.

"Of course he'll remember her," Francesca nodded. "They're soul mates."

"Yeah," Kat and Sadie sitting back in their seats, smiles fixated on their faces.

Liam glanced at the Ladies he was sitting in between and through a disbelieving look at Kwest, who just smiled and shook his head slowly and shrugged.

The performance ended, the room growing dark for a millisecond before the spotlight drifted across the room to another stage, illuminating a man sitting at the piano. His fingers began to dance across the keys. The result was perfection.

"That's Jude's song," Liam whispered to Sadie. She nodded in response, her attention fixed on the stage as another spotlight appeared and focused on the young woman sitting on a stool, microphone in hand, center stage.

Jude's eyes began to become watery as she sat in her seat on the plane watching the Grammy performance. The young woman, Mia, a new artist working at the new headquarters of G-major in the United States began to sing _her_ song. The song she had worked on _that_ morning before she heard about the news.

_"What did you say  
I know I saw you singing  
My ears won't stop ringing  
Long enough to hear  
Those sweet words  
what did you say"_

What did you say"A smile crept across her face as she listened to the lyrics, each note carried perfectly by the young artist's angelic voice. Jude's mind instantly flicked back to the morning she wrote the song. All the emotions she was feeling at the time flooded back. And of course her mind had to rewind to the events that had led up to that morning. Including Tommy serenading her at 2 in the morning.

"_End of the day  
The hour hand has spun  
Before the night is done  
I just have to hear  
Those sweet words  
Spoken like a melody"_

She smiled, and watched as the state of California passed beneath her. "Those sweet words," she murmured, remembering the last words he'd said to her. "I love you…" her grin instantly grew a few more centimeters as she recalled.

Had he said it? Had it been a dream? She often wondered. She fingered the small almost invisible scar on her collarbone from all of his biting. "It was definitely real." She said aloud.

"_Did you have a hard time sleeping  
'Cause a heavy moon was keeping me awake  
And all I know is I'm just glad to see you again"_

She recalled, watching him from the doorway of his music room, playing the piano. Writing her song. She remembered the moonlight shining threw the open window and the breeze gently moving the curtains behind him. The only thing she couldn't remember were the exact words he was singing.

_Perhaps that's because I was too focused on his mouth_ she thought devilishly.

"_I just have to hear  
Your sweet words  
Spoken like a melody  
I just want to hear  
Those sweet words" _

Her smile faded a little as her nerves kicked in. _What's he going to say? Will he be the same? What if he's not the same person I fell in love with? Will he remember everything? Will he remember me? What about Diane? _The questions cluttered her brain, and she groaned in frustration.

"Did you need something Miss Harrison?" The stewardess asked, pulling her headphones out of her ears.

"No, I'm fine," she smiled, in response. She tried to refocus her attention back on the television, but the awards had switched to a commercial. She kicked off her killer heels and leaned her chair back in an actual comfortable position. She curled her legs up underneath her. Flying privately or in first class would never get old to her.

As the show finally came back from the commercial break she tried to distract herself by listening to the host's lame ass improvised jokes, but needless to say that didn't keep her attention too long, until the nominees for best pop song of the year began to be named by two presenters.

"And the winner for best pop song of the year goes to…" Jude watched in agony as the presenters kidded around with one another, delaying the results. _Oh brother._

" 'THOSE SWEET WORDS'!"

"Holy shit," Jude cursed, rather loudly, causing the stewardess to look back at her in alarm. "Sorry…" she said, shrugging and pointing to the screen. "My song just won a Grammy."

"Congrats," she replied politely, before putting back in her earpiece and returning her attention back to her corny romance book.

"…and I'd like to thank Jude Harrison for writing this amazing song." Mia smiled. "We'll have to share it—first two weeks at my house though."

Jude smiled and rolled her eyes. _Maybe all of today will be good…_

* * *

**The song? No it's not mine. That would belong toNorah Jones and the song's official tittle? Those sweet words. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: See within 48 hours as promised. Thanks to: GiliwasCool, melodie568, Duddley111, strawberrigashes, anberzen, bookworm0408, Tommy4eva, Kris10rox, jadedxL0VE, Funkyicecube, Adrienne, and Tommys my 21 for reviewing that last chapter. And thanks to everyone for all the new alerts and favs to of course.**

* * *

Jude rushed through the halls of the bright hospital corridor. With a few quick turns and an elevator ride later, she was only several feet from his room. Her hand was on the doorknob, and she was about walk in when someone called her name. She whipped around in the direction of the voice.

"Hi, Miss Harrison,"

"Hello," she smiled, recognizing the person as one of Tommy's doctors, Dr. Williamson. She had developed a pleasant relationship with this particular doctor over the past couple of years.

"Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" Dr. Williamson asked, taking a hold of her arm and pulling her in the opposite direction of Tommy's room. She looked down at the man's hand firmly gripped around her arm and then back at the doorknob. She'd already waited for so long, **too long, **and she'd have to wait a few minutes longer.

"This can't wait?" she breathed, letting him lead her down the hall.

Dr. Williamson dropped her arm and turned into a small private waiting room at the end of the hall. "I'm afraid not. It's about Mr. Quincy's current condition."

Jude collapsed into one of the hardback chairs in the corner. "Liyah told me everything was good…"

The doctor nodded slightly and shoved his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat. "He is…it's remarkable that he was able to recover so fully, but…" he sighed.

_God please let that be a good 'but'. _

"But what," Jude coaxed, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting up straighter in her chair. She was determined to stay strong, or look strong and ready for anything.

"We're afraid there is some slight swelling near his brainstem that could be causing some of his problems with his sense of tou--"

Jude interrupted him. "But you can do surgery to reduce the swelling correct?"

"Yes, but the problem is he's refusing anymore surgeries at the moment. We think he's slightly delusional, perhaps you could speak to him and--"

Jude interrupted him once again, standing up and walking towards the door. "Of course I will, but if he's the same Tommy…" _Please let him be the same Tommy_. "I doubt he'll listen to anyone else if his mind is made up." Jude smiled sadly, opening the door.

"There's another thing," the doctor called out.

"Can this wait until later?" she asked, exasperated, backing out into the hallway.

"Actually no…" Dr. Williamson called after her. But he was talking to himself because Jude was already gone down the hall. _"She will find out soon enough I guess,"_ he thought, twirling his stethoscope as he walked out the door to visit another patient. "I'll be in my office if you have any questions later on," he called after her.

_"Should I knock or not?"_ Jude thought, once again standing outside of his door. The choice however was made for her as the door swung open and she was almost bulldozed over by a young multiracial woman.

"Jude," she stage whispered, quickly shutting the door behind her.

"Hi Liyah," she smiled back. "How is he?"

"Why don't you go see for yourself," Liyah replied, smiling warmly at her.

"Sounds stupid but I'm a little nervous," Jude sighed, rolling her eyes and leaning against the wall.

"Well you better shake the nerves quickly, because I just gave him some sleeping pills. He'll be out for the count in a half-hour or so," Liyah informed her, "I'll talk to later though duty calls."

Jude nodded her goodbye and walked cautiously into the room. She was pleasantly surprised to see Tommy sitting up in bed watching television. She was in a daze. She noticed most of the tubes, wires, and whatnot were gone. Only a single IV was in his arm.

She caught her breath sharply causing him to glance up at her.

"Hi," he smiled.

_His voice is different_ she recognized. It was slightly deeper, huskier, and raspier from not being used in a while. Her own voice was caught in her throat.

"Hi." She walked over to his bed in a trance. "How are you feeling?"

"Rested?" he joked.

_Same bad sense of humor._

"That's not funny," she responded, letting silent tears fall from her eyes.

Before she knew it she was pressed against his chest in a tight embrace.

"Shhh," he soothed, rubbing her back. "It's okay girl."

_He called me girl. _

Jude pulled out of the embrace after a few minutes, and wiped some of her tears. She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to fall apart on you like that."

He cupped her face with his hand, helping her catch some of the stray tears. "It's okay." He smiled, drawing her closer to him again. She leaned against his chest contently, letting him hold her like old times.

_Feels the same in his arms. _

He twisted his fingers around her curls. "What happened to the red?"

She pulled back from him again, staring into his laughing eyes.

_The same deep, beautiful blue/gray eyes..._

"Red was kind of juvenile," she shrugged, sniffling. "What you don't like it?"

"No," he shook his head. "I like it. Brown is good too."

She sniffled, and chuckled softly. "It's medium chestnut actually."

He rolled his eyes and laughed along with her.

"You look beautiful by the way…" he commented, kiss her forehead.

_He's still sweet. _

"Thanks."

They were silent for a few minutes, Jude unconsciously running her fingers down the length of his arm.

"I remember you singing to me," he whispered.

She looked at him curiously. "What?"

"While I was—you know in a coma. Did you come in and sing to me?" Jude nodded in response. "Yeah… I remember. I thought it was an angel at the time."

_Most definitely the same old Tommy. _

Fresh tears stream down Jude's face, as she looked at him curiously. "Yeah?"

"Yeah…" he nodded, tears forming in his own eyes.

"You have no idea how much, I've missed you," she murmured.

"I know, we've got a lot to catch up on," he whispered, brushing her bangs out of her face.

"I know…" _Two years_.

After a few minutes, she glanced up at him to see if the sleeping pills had begun to take an affect on him or not. But he was just had a far away look etched across his face. "What's the matter," she asked, him quietly.

He looks down at her running her fingertips rhythmically rubbing up and down his forearm. "I wish I could feel you," he murmured.

She looked at him incredulously, raising her eyebrow. _Was that a sexual innuendo? _

"What are you talking about Quincy?"

His eyebrows immediately furrowed, and he looked at her sadly. "Did Dr. Williamson not explain it to you?"

She quickly replayed the conversation that she had previously had with the doctor, remembering all the times she had interrupted him. _I didn't give him the chance to tell me, _she thought

She shook her head slowly. "No, what are you talking about." She whispered, sitting up.

He looked at her hand resting on his arm, "I can touch you, but I can't feel you. I don't remember the exact medical terminology, but he thinks it has something to do with the swelling in my head…but it not be."

"How come you don't want them to perform the surgery," Jude asked, wearily.

"They'd have to induce me into a medical coma," he sighed, shaking his head, and leaning back against his pillows. He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"But--" She began, but was silenced by Tommy shaking his head, and holding his hand in the air.

"I don't care right now. I don't want to risk it right now. Maybe a few months down the road. But not now."

Jude nodded, as if she understood his point of view.

_She doesn't_, Tommy thought, sighing.

He glanced at her briefly, looking away from her just as quickly. She was staring at him, probably taking pity on him…not something that he wanted. He willed the tears not to fall from his eyes.

She brushed the back of her hand across his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "It'll be okay."

She sounded so confident, but she couldn't possibly know that. Still, he wanted to believe her. Her words played over and over in his head as he fell into a drug-induced sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**May I just say that I'm EXTREMELY happy to have 100 reviews and it's all thanks to people like: ****Tommysmy21, ****Erin McKinley, ****Catch1star****, Kristen, ****GiliwasCool, ****melodie568****, Adrienne, ****jadedxL0VE, ****Funkyicecube, ****bookworm0408, ****Tommy4eva, ****pixiestix16, ****jackjackio****, and ****KayKay2007**.

**And my apologies for the lack of updates, but school is almost out and my life won't be so hectic. But I'm working on the next part right now. So more really, really, really soon. Excuse the mistakes, it's only 1 in the morning, and I wanted it to be here for you in the morning. **

* * *

"How can you loose your sense of touch?" Jude paced barefooted in the doctor's office. She'd been rambling for the past few minutes uninterrupted.The doctor watched herwalk across the room multiple times, her legs swishing against the silky fabric ofthe evening gown she still wore.She finally exhaled, and flopped into the plush chair in front of his desk. 

Dr. Williamson stared at her a few moments, wondering if she was really finished with her rant.

"It's hard to diagnose Mr. Quincy's condition with him refusing treatment of any kind which is precisely why we must encourage you as a close friend of his, and all of the rest of his family and friends to persuade him to do a few tests."

Jude smiled to herself and shook his head. "I don't think that's going to work out to well. Quincy's stubborn. He's not doing anything if he doesn't feel like it."

"_Persuade_ was the keyword Miss Harrison," Dr. Williamson replied, in a condescending tone. "I'm just going to lay all of the cards out on the table for you."

Jude nodded and waited for him to continue.

"I honestly didn't think Mr. Quincy would ever be conscious again. Most people don't wake after three months of being in a comatose stage."

"Nice to know you had faith Doc," Jude commented, barely hiding her bitterness with a smile.

Dr. Williamson shrugged in response. "His odds were pretty much slim to nothing. Anyone in my profession would have begun to loose hope after a certain time period.

"I'm not sure I've never dealt with cases such as this, I've just read about such things in medical school. But there have been reported cases of people with the same condition recovering from this type of thing completely. But as I said before it's impossible to fully diagnose Mr. Quincy unless he allows my team to do more testing.

"My guess is there's swelling occurring in his skull. The pressure is causing his sense of touch to dissipate."

"Will he…will he be able to walk?" Jude blurted out.

"Mr. Quincy maintained a strenuous workout regime to make sure he maintained his flexibility and muscle mass, and the Functional Electrical Stimulation machine to help workout the nerves. I wouldn't be surprised if he was walking within the next couple of weeks. Physical therapy will help him get used to his bodyweight quickly, but as I said most of his muscles should be in pretty good shape. It was good that Miss Winthrop mentioned that type of treatment to me or it probably would have slipped my mind."

"Really," Jude grumbled, cringing at the sound of _her_ name.

"Really," he replied, grabbing his vibrating pager from his belt. "I'm sorry Miss Harrison…I must finish up this conversation later. I'm needed in room 610."

"Okay. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me," she stood, extending her hand.

"No problem. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask," he responded, his eyes lingering on hers for a few seconds more seconds before he headed out the door.

Jude watched him walk out the door, before scooping up her shoes, and other belongings so she could head home.

* * *

Kwest anxiously stood outside of the door to Tommy's hospital room. 

"Just open it all ready," she snapped in frustration

"I don't see you taking the initiative," he grunted, slumping against the wall.

"You're the man,"

"After all the stuff you say about being an independent woman," he smirked, shaking his head at her.

"Just go in already," she glared.

He placed his hand on the knob, partially turning it, before he let go like it was on fire. He grunted and slumped back against the wall. Francesca looked at him sympathetically. "I know how you feel." She said as she shifted huge vase of wildflowers from her left to her right arm.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at skeptically.

"Yes, like it's some huge malicious practical joke on you…like you're dreaming? You feel like it's too good to be true, because that's what I'm feeling."

Kwest nodded his head. He sighed, and firmly pulled her toward him into an awkward hug. They stood there for several minutes, in a comfortable silence. Kwest leaned his forehead against hers, sighing.

"What if he's not the same Tommy?" he whispered.

"We won't know until we go _see_…" she whispered, lightly pecking him on the lips.

"You're right," he breathed, standing up straighter.

"I know I'm right," she grinned, cockily.

He rolled his eyes, and eased out of their embrace. "I love you."

"Say what?" she gaped, feeling a wave of happiness and confusion. He'd never told her before because neither of them took the words too lightly.

"I love you," he whispered, before knocking on the door, and peeking his head inside.

He stood there, frozen, mouth agape as he gazed at his best friend. His best friend, who was actually sitting up, reading magazines, and eating green, pineapple jell-o.

"May we come in?" Francesca asked dumbly, gathering her thoughts and words before Kwest.

"No…" Tommy replied, sarcastically. Francesca handed over the vase to Kwest and rushed towards him.

"Tom," she murmured, enveloping him in her arms.

"Francesca," he choked out, patting her back. "I can't breathe. Fran. Fran?"

"I'm sorry," she smiled, easing her vise like-grip on him. "How are you?"

The two chatted a while as Kwest watched the two of them slightly awestruck.

"Well I have to be at work in a while, so I'm going to leave you guys to do the whole male bonding thing okay?" Francesca smiled, hugging Tommy once again. "I've missed you. We've all missed you so much." She whispered in his ear.

"I'm back now," he whispered, back.

Francesca lightly pecked Kwest on the lips. "See you later baby."

Tommy looked between the two of them, a look of confusion stamped across his face. As Francesca exited the room, closing the door behind her, Tommy echoed her last word.

"Baby?" he asked, baffled.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for the comments: Funkyicecube, Erin McKinley, KayKay2007, Tommy4eva, Duddley111, jackjackio, and pixiestix16.Those had to be thebest quality comments I've ever had...**

**And it is actually possible to lose your sense of touch, but it's a little more complicated than how I'm writing my story. If you were to lose your sense of touch, you'd actually also be losing your sense of proprioception, which is a 6th sense to all people. 'Proprioception is the sense of position ****of parts of the body, relative to other neighboring parts of the body.' And if you'd like more information on this subject google 'Why can't this man feel?'**

**And now for the next part--**

* * *

Tommy looked between the two of them, a look of confusion stamped across his face. As Francesca exited the room, closing the door behind her, Tommy echoed her last word. 

"Baby?" he asked, baffled. "I'm missing something right?"

Kwest laughed, and took the now vacated seat beside Tom's bed.He quickly filled him on his new relationship with Francesca. He even included the story of how he had officially asked her out after a couple of months of them flirting around with each other at the studio.

"Actually Liam said he'd terminate my contract if I didn't ask her out," Kwest laughed.

"Liam? When did he become so much less of an ass wipe?" Tommy shook his head, disbelievingly.

"Since he and Sadie got married about a year and half ago."

Tommy's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he repeated what Kwest had said. "Sadie. Liam. Married?"

"Shocked the hell out of everyone…they have a 3 month old little girl too," Kwest grinned, flipping his wallet out.

The next half hour the two tried to fit in the last two years. Kwest sharing with him various wallet-sized photographs and the memories that went along with them. Tommy stared at each of the pictures, studying the each one ritually before moving on to the next photo.

_Two years?_ He thought to himself as he looked at the pictures of his friends living life. Living life without him…_nothing stopped for me?__Nothing waited for me..._

Tommy sighed, continuing to glance over the few photos from Kwest's wallet, listening to his friend's stories.

"She went in to labor at Mason's album release party?" Tommy smirked. _I wish I could have been there to see that. _

"Yes," Kwest laughed, shaking his head. "She was supposed to be on bed rest anyone, but you know Sadie--she doesn't listen to authoritative figures very well. That's not even the worse part of the night though…"

Tommy listened, quietly to the story of getting Sadie to the hospital during the labor and how she almost delivered Layla in the backseat of a Darius's limousine.

As Tommy listened to more and more memories—things he had missed out on, he began to grow more and more disheartened because life had in fact moved on without him.

Kwest sensing the slight change of their whole joking and reminiscent conversation, frowned as Tommy stared absentmindedly out the window. He quietly gathered back up the photographs littering the bed, and placed them back in his wallet.

"Two years?" Tommy murmured, still glancing out the window. "I wonder why God even decided to wake me up…"

"Because we need you man," Kwest responded solemnly, after a moment of silence. "You have no idea how much I've—how much we've all missed you man."

Tommy scoffed, and let out a bitter laugh. "I can tell."

Kwest bit his tongue, not wanting to sound too judgmental. Perhaps his friend needed a moment to drown in self-pity. If he were in Tommy's shoes he had no clue how he'd take it.

"It's true man…nothing's been the same without you…" Kwest muttered, finding sudden interest in the shoes on his feet.

Tommy cleared his throat trying to find a way to redirect their conversation back down the friendlier, shallower end. "So what's been up with Jamie and Kat?"

"Jamie's building his way up in the music industry—he's one of the newest scouts for Instant Star. Kat has her own fashion line…and they're both engaged."

"Engaged to who?"

"Engaged to each other."

Tommy's eyebrows shot up in the air. "What?"

"For 2 months now." Kwest allowed him a moment to get over the initial shock. "Kat and Sadie are starting to plan the wedding, but yet they've already changed the date 3 times. The latest date being June 3rd."

Tommy shook his head, faking a smile, trying to hide his returning gloominess. "And Jude? Liyah, you know the nurse, was telling me that she wasn't singing anymore."

Kwest glanced at him quickly before focusing his attention back on his wallet in his hand. He shrugged and flashed a smile. "No she hasn't recorded a thing since we finished up her junior album."

"Why?" Tommy asked, exasperated.

"Her inspiration was gone," Kwest swallowed.

Tommy looked at him uncertainly. "Jude can make music on her own…she was outgrowing me quickly."

"Yeah. Right, Tommy," Kwest scoffed. "Jude already said what she wanted to say with her first two albums, I honestly think she was just continuing her music career for the both of you."

"What are you talking about Kwest? Jude loves making music…"

"Jude loves making music with _you_."

"You make it sound like we had a relationship," Tommy laughed.

Kwest looked at him bewildered. "What do you mean 'like' you had a relationship?"

It was Tommy's turn to look baffled as Kwest explained the night they had spent together a couple of years ago. Tommy listened as Kwest detailed the milestones in he and Jude's relationship every since her 16th birthday.

"You really don't remember any of this," Kwest prodded, looking at Tommy in disbelief. He couldn't figure out how he was apparently blocking out the most important moments of his life—the one's involving the intimate moments with Jude.

"I remember the 16th birthday thing, I even remember the 17th birthday thing, but I don't remember," he paused, shaking his head. "I don't remember any thing close to the accident." He realized. "And what about Diane? Why would I sleep with Jude if I was serious about Diane?"

"You and Diane broke up," Kwest stated quickly.

"No we didn't."

"You did," Kwest said slowly, nodding his head. _Trust me._

"You're sure?" Tommy asked, trying to shake all the jumble of emotions he was feeling.

"You broke up alright." _Thank God._

"Why?"

"Um, you two just weren't compatible." Kwest euphemized.

"What?" Tommy laughed, incredulously. "I actually talked to her earlier this morning--"

"You did?" Kwest interrupted.

"Not really, but Liyah tried to get in contact with her earlier, but she's doing another one of her mission trips to Africa. Basically unreachable for a while."

Kwest let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he had been holding. "Oh, so you haven't been able to contact her?"

"No," Tommy shook his head.

A nurse knocked and entered the room.

"Hi, Mr. Quincy?" the woman greeted, glancing from Kwest to Tommy.

"That's Mr. Quincy," Kwest replied, quickly, standing up and moving over to the window seat.

Tommy looked at him curiously, before focusing his attention back to the tall, manly-looking, strawberry blonde at his side.

"I'm going to be your physical therapist…" she grimaced, cracking her knuckles followed by her neck.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Despite popular theory, I have not abandoned the story... it's still got a long way to go. School is finally out for the summer for me, soI can get back to writing a little more regularly. Thanks to everyone (bookworm0408, burninsecretskept, jackjackio, Tommy4eva, Duddley111, frozenfireheart, iamthatplace, Adrienne, KayKay2007, Sarah Jo, and bodukefan) for reviewing the last chapter.**

**So after the 3 weeks of not writing anything, I have to get back into the swing of things. Please tell me how I'm doing (goodor bad) by reviewing after you finish reading. :) Thanks in advance.**

* * *

Jude nursed her third apple martini, but the martinis were not her first alcoholic beverages of the night since she had had a couple glasses of red wine with her dinner. She sat on the outskirts of the little support group that had formed for her. She fidgeted uneasily, looking around the room at Francesca to Sadie to her mother to Portia to Kat, and then back to Francesca.

"I'm fine," she grimaced, downing the contents of her glass.

"Jude…honey. You're not fine," Portia exclaimed.

"You've been throwing yourself into your work even more than usual, and if you're not at work you're here, locked up in your house," Sadie sighed, frustrated that Jude was getting into her previous habits of withdrawing from her friends and family.

"I'm fine," she reiterated, imitating a smile. _See I'm smiling. I'm happy…kind of._ She glanced around the room at the blank and disbelieving faces staring back at her.

"The sooner you talk about this, the sooner we'll get out of your house…" Francesca theorized, naming off all the good things that would happen… if Jude would just stop trying to act so tough and tell them how she was feeling. "The sooner you'll feel better."

"Or," Jude groaned, making the journey back to the small bar in the corner of her living room for another apple martini. The group slowly migrated around her once again. "I could kick all of your asses out of here…"

"Excuse you?" Victoria exclaimed, from the couch in the living room.

"Except you mom," she corrected, laughing bitterly as she searched for the bottle of apple schnapps. She ran her fingers through her hair as she began to grow frustrated. "Where the hell is the bottle of schnapps?"

Portia sitting on a bar stool, stood up and circled behind the bar, "I'll fix you up." she offered, patting her arm. Jude sighed, heavily, and took the now vacated stool in between Sadie and Francesca.

"Thanks," she mumbled, as Portia handed over her refilled martini glass.

"Not a problem…"

Jude sipped, her beverage gingerly, peeking over the rim of glass to see if everyone was still staring at her. "I'm seriously going to kick all of you out. If you don't back up…and let me breathe…" she said, calmly, but her blood was boiling.

"We've let you sulk enough for the time being. It's time for intervention," Kat said, looking around the room for support.

"Kat's right," Francesca replied, raising her glass and clinking it together with Sadie and Portia's. Jude shrugged apathetically, but had to admit she was glad that she had people that cared that much to give up their Saturday night trying to cheer her up.

"Don't you dare move," she threatened them, as she hopped off her stool, and returned to the sofa beside her mom.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about Jude," Victoria asked, quietly. "There has to be something you want us to do."

"There's nothing you can do," Jude breathed, throwing her head back against the sofa. "There's not a damn thing anyone can do! Unless you can rewind time back the last 2 years and half…unless you can do that—just leave me the hell alone okay?" she barked, tears falling freely from her eyes. "I mean I went out to dinner with you all like I promised…a therapy session was never in the mix."

She downed the content of her glass, and marched back towards the bar. This time she just took the entire bottle of vodka and forgot about the glass. She took a swig from the bottle and immediately settled into a fit of coughing. "I would like to scream right now…" she nodded, mater-of-factly. "Where's a soundproof studio when you need one, uh?" she mumbled, before taking another swig.

She laughed, and took the bottle back to the living room with her, and flopped back on the couch beside her mom. "How can he not remember the day that I can't forget? It just plays over and over and over again in my head," she smiled genuinely, as she remembered. "It was just so perfect…I've never felt that before. I'm never going to feel that again. And he—he can't remember? But yet he remembers Diane--" she trailed off.

"We could fly to United States and toilet paper her house, if it would make you feel better," Kat grinned, vacating her bar stool and taking a seat beside her on the couch.

"She's not worth that long of a flight," Jude sniffled.

"You're right," Kat smiled, weakly, as she tucked Jude's hair behind her ears.

"It would be worth if we keyed her car too though," Portia smirked, walking back into the living room.

"And dyed her little poodle," Sadie suggested, following at Portia's heels.

Jude smiled, and shrugged. "I have frequent flyer miles to spend."

They all laughed quietly, relieving some of the tension in the room as they did so.

"What am I going to do?" Jude asked to no one in particular.

After a moment of silence and a several blank stares, Victoria replied, rubbing her back. "Just be his friend…until he's ready for the other thing…if it's still there."

They all nodded in agreement, Jude shook her head slowly. "That's going to be so hard…"

"No, it won't," Sadie replied, "You guys started out as friends right? Same concept."

_No it's not._ Jude shook her head, and took another sip from the bottle, before her mom snatched it from her and replaced it with a glass.

"But you can't just stop living…_again._ That's unhealthy," Sadie put in, her motherly tone seeping out.

"You need to get laid," Kat blurted out, earning curious glances from everyone. "What? Not releasing sexual frustrations is unhealthy too."

They all continued to look at her for a few more seconds before changing the subject.

"But anyway," Portia began. "I agree with Vic…Just be there for him for the time being."

Jude sighed, and held her glass out to her mom to refill. _I can do that…just be his friend. _

* * *

A couple of weeks had passed and Tommy had made a lot of progress with his walking from a walker to a crutch and now to a cane.

"I think I'm ready to get out of here," he blurted out absentmindedly.

"I'm not finished massaging your hamstrings yet," Helga, his physical therapist, objected.

"No. I mean out of here. Out of this hospital."

"You're not ready to live on your own again," Helga opposed, shaking her head slowly. "You just barely walking again."

"I'm going to go stir crazy in here," he sighed, "I'm ready to start living again…to start being a real man again."

Helga nodded.

_And I'm tired of getting people's sympathetic and understanding nods. _

"I don't think--"

"It's really not your decision," he snapped, rather rudely. _And of them telling me what's good for me…_

"Excuse me," Helga growled right back.

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Real men…" she started, waving off his apology. "Need help too."

"You don't understand." _So don't pretend._

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, standing from our kneeling position at his feet. "You need to discuss your plans with Dr. Williamson."

_Or not. _

"I was planning on it," he nodded, standing slowly and reaching for his cane.

"Here let me get that," Helga said hopping over to get it for him.

"No," he interjected, but she was already handing it to him. "I got it--" he finished, weakly, snatching the cane from her and walking out the room.

As he walked back to his own room, he stopped off at the lobby, grabbing more magazines from off an end table.

He tried to resume his new hobby of reading once he got back to his recliner, by the window, but he couldn't focus on words as his eyes kept drifting to the bay window on the other side of the room.

"Such a beautiful day out," he murmured, standing up and snatching up the phone before instinctively dialing a number.

"Hello, unless this is important hang up right now," Jude answered.

"It's pretty important," Tommy laughed, at her greeting.

"Ahh. Mr. Quincy? Would that you be you?" Jude asked.

"Yes."

"And what can I do for you today," she asked, propping her feet up on her desk, momentarily pausing her work.

"Are you do anything today?"

"Well define anything please."

"Lunch. Doing anything for lunch today?"

_Not anymore. _

"You feeling the need for tacos again Quincy?"

"Nah, I was thinking about you kidnapping me actually."

"Kidnapping uh?" Jude laughed. _Bondage included?_ "I'll see what I can do, okay? How does noon-ish sound?"

"Perfecto."

"Until then," she smiled, hanging up.

* * *

"Now…this is what I needed," Tommy sighed, throwing the wrapper from his hotdog away.

"The hotdog?" Jude smirked, as they continued to walk around the park, avoiding the power-walkers and the mothers with strollers who zoomed by them every once in a while.

"No. I'm talking about the whole kidnapping thing," Tommy sighed, staring up at her as she climbed on the edge of the fountain in the center of the park. "I am eternally in your debt."

"I'm charging interest then," Jude laughed, as she teetered along the edge.

Tommy laughed along with her good-naturedly, "I'm serious girl. I was going insane in that hospital."

They slowly walked around the circumference of the fountain in a comfortable silence. "I was thinking about signing out of the hospital."

Jude stopped walking along the edge of the fountain and jumped down and sat beside him. "You ready for that?"

_God, not her too. _Tommy sighed, irritably, "Yes, I'm ready,"

"Okay then," Jude shrugged, crossing her legs. "You're aware that you're house is being rented out?"

"I vaguely remember Kwest mentioning that to me," Tommy sighed. "Three months left on the people's lease right?"

"Yeah," Jude nodded, sipping her bottle of water.

"I'll get a little condo or something," he thought aloud.

"Are you planning to live on your own?" Jude asked, pointedly. After his silence, she automatically assumed that he hadn't even gotten that far in his plan. "Well if you were to—you know check out of there you'd probably need to get a private nurse or something…"

_I don't need a fucking private nurse._

"I'm sure I could manage on my own," he said, calmly, seething inside.

"I don't think that's a good idea Tommy," Jude replied, shaking her head wearily.

"I didn't ask you," Tommy gnarled.

Jude glared at him angrily for a split second, before her face instantly softened, and she exhaled. "You're right, you didn't."

Tommy stared at her, unblinkingly. _How can she just let me snap at her like that and not put me back in my place? This is so infuriating. I hate everyone treating me like I'm about to break—like I'm so damn fragile. Okay. Fine. I'm going to milk this a while until she finally snaps. _

"I'm ready to go now," Tommy said, getting up. "Drive me to the storage facility where some of my things are being held," he looked at back at Jude who was still sitting in her previous seat in a daze. "Now." He added, walking off towards the parking lot.

Jude closed her mouth, standing and trotting after him. She easily caught up with him before he reached the car. Jude walked around to the side of the car, opening her door and sitting down in the driver's seat. Tommy bent down at the waist and tapped on the window. He motioned for her to open the door open for him.

She looked at him like he was insane for a millisecond before unbuckling her seatbelt and trudging back around the passenger's side and opening the door for him. Once he was situated inside she made a point of slamming the door. He watched her as she fumed around back to her side of the car, muttering obscenities beneath her breath the whole entire time.

Tommy grinned, satisfied that he was clearly striking up some unpleasant behavior from her. He wiped his satisfied grin off his face, as Jude opened the driver's door again. "What to you so long? You're acting like you're the one who just learned how to walk a week ago."

Jude scowled at him a second, before inserting the key into the ignition and putting the car into gear.

"You need to be a little easier on the clutch girl," he critiqued. "How long have you been driving.

Jude rolled her eyes, putting on her sunglasses, and turned up the radio, loudly.

Tommy faced out the window, smiling. _How much can she take of that?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you everyone (Kris10rox, bookworm0408, Tommy4eva, FreakEmoWriter17, pixiestix16, iamthatplace, Adrienne, musical-cynders, jackjackio, starfan88, Adrienne, Erin McKinley, LittleZurawski, AlexzTimFan, Funkyicecube, and Duddley111) who read AND reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate it so much.

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**

"You could go ahead and shift to 5th gear…just because you're wealthy now doesn't mean you can't conserve gas," Tommy criticized, as they sped down the winding roads toward the storage building. 

Jude clenched and unclenched her jaw; gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were turning a deathly white. She gave him a side-glance before shifting to fifth gear. Attempting to smile at him, she failed miserably, showing a quick flash of her teeth—much more like a grimace than a smile. _Breathe, Jude, just breathe. He's been through a lot. You'd be a little pissed off too, if you'd just missed out on two years of your life. _

"I'm cold," Tommy sighed, fidgeting in his seat.

Jude, resisting the urge to scream, turned the heat in the car on a little. She unconsciously applied more pressure to the gas pedal, making them go even faster through the winding roads.

_Can he even feel the temperature changes?_ She wanted to ask him, but felt it was rather rude and insensitive of her to ask. She pondered on it a while, until Tommy interrupted her thoughts once again.

"You can slow down, I've been traumatized in enough car accidents to last me a lifetime.

_That's it…_

With that Jude slammed on her breaks, simultaneously pushing down on the clutch, and turning the wheel, sending the convertible into a 360 before veering off onto the shoulder of the road.

"Holy shit!" Tommy shouted, throwing one arm against the dashboard and holding on to the door handle for his life. "Holy shit! " he shouted again, clutching his chest. "Are you trying to kill us both?"

She fumbled, trying to slide the key out of the ignition. She hastily unbuckled her seatbelt, reaching for the door handle. She turned around quickly, facing Tommy. "No, you know, what? You get the hell out of my car right now." She glowered, climbing out of that car and slamming the door so hard the window shook.

Tommy watched, mildly bewildered, more frightened, as she stomped around the back of that car to the passenger's side, opening his door.

"Get out," she said, a strained calm in her voice.

Tommy debated with himself for a split second, before climbing out of the car. He leaned on the hood of the car as Jude stalked off down the road, breathing hard. She got 30 feet away and turned back around walking towards him.

_She has lost her mind. _

"What the hell is your problem," she screamed, throwing her hands up in the air as if she were defeated. He glanced up at her shocked at the rage flashing behind her eyes.

"I--" he began, before being cut off by her.

"Whatever the hell is, you need to fix. I don't deserve this crap," she snapped, thoughtfulness in her tone. "You think you've been through a lot over the past year? What about me, Quincy? What about everyone who's _ever_ loved you? Your family. Your friends. Your fans," she breathed, her tone becoming more even as she spoke. "I realize it's hard for you, settling back in to the whole _life_ thing. But dammit, you cannot treat me or anyone else the way you just treated me. Do you think you deserve some kind of special treatment--"

"That's my whole damn point Jude! **_Everyone_** is treating me like I'm some little fragile child—like I'll break or snap. I can't handle that from you too girl," he shouted, his voice breaking. He stood up and walked around. "I'm fine now. I'm awake. I'm walking. I'm talking. I'm _alive_. I'M ALIVE!" he yelled for emphasis, startling Jude and causing her to take a step back.

"Okay," she said, sympathetically. She tossed her hands up in a peace gesture. "You're alive. I understand."

"You don't act like it," he said in his normal tone of voice. "I'm so sick of having things _done to_ me and being treated like an infant—like an invalid! While I was in coma, people made sure I was fed, bathed; they even wiped my ass for heaven's sake, Jude!" his voice growing higher in volume by the minute. "Now that I'm awake people are still trying to _do _things to me. I'm ready to start doing things for myself again. Be a **_real_** man again."

Jude stood silently, kicking at the weeds at her feet. "But you have to realize the fact that we're all in shock here, basically. You have _no_ idea…" she trailed off.

"About what? Don't hold back," he responded, his eyes pleading. "Give it to me straight up…"

She sighed, looking up at sky, willing herself not to cry. "You closed your eyes for two years. I had mine open for two years wishing and praying that you'd wake up everyday and everyday you didn't."

"I know it was rough on you girl, and everyone else. But I'm here now." He sighed. "I'm here, but it doesn't feel like it. I just need you, _especially_ you, not to--"

"Coddle…" Jude completed, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Yeah, not to _coddle_ me," he smiled.

"Okay, I'll work on it," she exhaled, leaning next to him on the car.

"That's not good enough," he whispered, sadly.

"It's the best I can do," she mumbled, "Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it." He sighed, reclining on the hood. After a few minutes he interrupted the silence. "The sky is blue."

"Duh." Jude smiled, at him as he stared up at the sky. She admired how he noticed little things now—how he just stopped whatever he was doing _noticed_.

"No, really. The sky is _blue_," he repeated, saying the word 'blue' like it was new to him.

Jude looked up. "Yup, it's blue, Tommy."

"Jude. You can't tell it's _blue_ from that position," he said, patting the hood. "Lay back, and breathe in the _blue_ness."

Jude rolled her eyes, and chuckled at his playful randomness. "Okay, whatever." But she reclined on the hood next to him, and looked up at the sky. "It is **_blue_**." She murmured, gazing up with him.

"Told you," he said in a singsong tone, before Jude and he burst out into laughter.

"Wait," she said, sitting up, and glaring at him. "Are you just trying to change the subject by distracting me with your randomness?"

"You caught me…" he joked.

"I'm serious…if you're ever that big asshole again--"

"You'll let me know," Tommy filled in, hopefully.

"And then I'll kick your ass."

"I won't feel it," he joked, placing his hands behind his head.

"I meant figuratively," Jude murmured, returning to her spot beside him. "What does **_it_** feel like?" she asked, turning on her side to face him.

He shrugged, and swallowed hard. "I don't know how to explain it."

She brought her hand to his stubbly cheek. "Try to. I want to **_try_** to understand a little better."

He removed her hand from the side of his face, and placed it between his own hands. He swallowed again, looking at their hands together. "It's kind of like going to the dentist and being numbed. You know they're in your mouth digging around and doing whatever they do, but you can't feel it. It's kind of like that."

"Can you tell differences temperature," she asked, quietly.

"I can feel like extreme differences. Like when it's 80 inside and 40 outside. But it's not exactly _feeling_ the difference I don't think. More like _noticing_ the temperature difference. I can tell that it's cold out here by the way my breath is more ragged—or my nose running or something like that."

Jude nodded, listening intently, feeling the warmth of his hands on hers. She slid her hand away from his and slid off the hood. She sighed, looking at him. "So about this condo search thing…since you don't want a live-in nurse, right?"

"Right," he chuckled, perching on the hood.

"You could always have one of my guest rooms…" she offered.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks to: Duddley111, tommysgurl0001, lilangel08, burninsecretskept, LittleZurawski, Adrienne, Tanya50801, jackjackio, bookworm0408, Kris10rox, Tommy4eva, and Erin McKinley for reviewing the last chapter. **

* * *

"You sure you know what you're getting yourself into right," Sadie asked, "It's Tommy here." She said as if his name was an sexually transmitted disease. "He's gross." She said, shuddering slightly. She glanced up at Jude, who was looking at her with her hand on her hip. 

"What?" Sadie asked, shrugging. "It's not _just_ him. It's all guys. Well **_most_** of them."

"I can vouch for her on that," Francesca said, as she handed Layla back to Sadie. "I should know too…cleaned up after him for two years. He almost forced me into writing my two-week's notice a couple of times," she said, shaking her head. After noticing the look on Jude's face, she added, "But that was basically when he was busy working…"

"Ladies, he's not going to be living with me technically. He's in the pool house," Jude clarified, yanking her thumb in the general direction of its location. "Big difference."

"Yeah, _big difference_," Sadie commented sarcastically, feeding Layla more peach flavored baby food. "He's like 25 feet from you."

"Sexual tensions are going to be so high," Francesca smiled, bouncing on the couch beside Jude. She rubbed her hands together. "This is going to be **_so_** good."

"I say they'll have sex tonight---on the floor," Sadie smiled, "In the kitchen."

"Ooh, no," Francesca interjected, "On the floor of the bathroom. Tommy will be all confused on how to work the shower in the pool house…"

"So he'll come back to the main house, _in a towel_---'Jude, can you come help me out girl?'" She said, in a horrible baritone.

"Should you be talking like this in front of your daughter?" Jude laughed, watching Layla spit the baby food out onto the "Mommy Loves You" bib around her neck.

"She's four months," Sadie rolled her eyes. "Where were we?" she asked, Francesca.

"Tommy _in a towel_," Francesca nodded, taking a sip of her water.

"Right, right," Sadie remembered, wiping Layla's mouth. "So Jude, after she comes out of the shock—from seeing Tommy half nude will say… 'Sure, Tommy, it **is** a little complicated.'" She said, in an extremely high-pitched voice.

"I do not sounds like that," Jude said, attempting to defend herself.

"And then, Jude here will whip off her housecoat, underneath it, of course she's wearing a sexy semi-see-through chemise…"

"I sleep in an over-sized Smiley face t-shirt with a big ass hole in it and men's boxers," Jude scoffed, enjoying their tale anyway.

"You're not going to be wearing raggedy ass pajamas now, since there's possibility of _Tommy Togetherness_," Francesca said matter-of-factly, throwing Jude a come-hither like look.

"Tommy Togetherness uh?" Sadie laughed, giving up on feeding Layla the rest of the Gerber baby food.

"Yes, _Tommy Togetherness_," Francesca nodded. She clasped her hands together, confirming what kind of _togetherness_ she was talking about, before continuing with the scenario.

"Now, Jude is walking toward the pool house, teetering sexily around the edge of the pool in her high-heels…"

"Why am I wearing high-heels with my house robe?" Jude questioned.

"You're not wearing your house robe anymore Jude," Sadie said, shushing her. "Go ahead, Fran."

"Tommy's following her, admiring the view…" she trails off, signaling for Sadie to continue.

"You get to the bathroom and bend over, the silky chemise you're wearing inching up…"

"Leaving **_very_** little to his imagination…" Francesca added.

"Right," Sadie nods, "So then you stand back up, putting your hand on your hip. 'And that's how you turn on the shower.'" She said in her imitation Jude voice.

" 'Can you show me that again?'" Francesca-Tommy asked. "And of course, Tommy's towel has slipped a little showing that little happy trail."

"You two need help," Jude stated, standing up and straightening the pillows on the couch, clearly flustered. "You make it seem like we're two sex-crazed teenagers," Jude chuckled, rolling her eyes, straightening the ponytail on top of her head. "I mean Tommy and me are going to have a strictly platonic relationship while under this roof."

"Note she didn't say while under the pool house roof…" Francesca said in a Barber Walter tone.

"Dually noted," Sadie replied, raising Layla to her shoulder, and patting her back.

"What if it did happen to become Tommy Time…" Jude asked in a hushed tone.

"Ooh, she already coined her own term," Francesca smiled, "For get Tommy Togetherness, we have _Tommy Time_."

Jude rolled her eyes, lightly swatting at Fran, "Won't it be weird him…not _feeling_ me?"

* * *

Tommy and Kwest struggled to set the box down in the living room of the pool house, as Liam followed behind them carrying another box.

"My god man, do you have enough belongings," Liam asked, flopping down on the leather recliner as Tommy and Kwest plummeted to the matching sofa couch.

"I don't remember ever having this much stuff man," Tommy sighed, propping his feet on the coffee table along beside Kwest. "What happened to our extra hands anyway?" he asked, breathlessly.

"Feeding the baby," Kwest replied.

"And it does take three women to feed a baby right," Liam commented, sarcastically.

"Of course," Tommy smirked, turning on the 64 inch flat-screen plasma television in front of them. "I'm **so** going to enjoy my stay here."

"Uh huh, and not just for the television either," Kwest remarked, grinning wickedly.

Tommy raised an eyebrow, "I know, we can have some nice, pool parties too. Have you seen that barbeque grill and that outdoor bar?"

"I don't think that's what he was talking about," Liam smirked.

"Oh I forgot." Tommy sighed, not liking the way the conversation was headed. "And of course this is officially the hockey game watching house…"

"What are you going to do?" Kwest asked, shaking his head. "You're living with Jude."

"And…" Tommy shrugged.

"We are talking about the same Jude here right?" Kwest smiled.

"Look. It's not a big deal…" Tommy lied, earning a 'yeah right' look from both men. "It's not!"

"Right…it wouldn't be a _big deal_ if you weren't Tommy and if she wasn't Jude," Liam snickered.

Tommy threw him a look over his shoulder, "What does that mean?"

"You two are like whip cream on jell-o," Kwest stated randomly.

Liam and Tommy turned to him with matching bewildered looks.

"Explain."

"Please," Tommy added.

"You know jell-o is good for you but then you add the whip cream and it's not good for you. But it still tastes good, if not better with the whip cream, so no one cares that it's not good for you," he explained.

"So," Liam laughed, "Is he the whip cream or the jell-o?"

"So you're saying that Jude and aren't good for each other or anyone else?"

"Forget it," Kwest laughed. "Bad analogy. My point is you and Jude can't live platonically. You have a history."

"A **_platonic_** history," Tommy corrected.

"Oh please," Liam sighed, getting up and walking towards the door. "I'm going to go do _something_. You can explain it to him well enough uh?" he said to Kwest as he walked out the door into the April sun.

"You and Jude have this crazy chemistry. It's unreal," he added, softly. "You might not remember **that night**, since you seem to be blocking out the un-platonic memories of you two, but there were plenty of un-platonic relations as well." He stated, and then started rambling off other times." He stated, and then started rambling off other. "Her Sweet 16th…"

"I told you about that?"

"You really do have a selective memory don't you?"

* * *

Liam walked back outside to Jude's SUV and grabbed another box, the sooner he finished, the sooner he could go home. The sooner he could get some free time alone with Sadie since Jude's mom had decided to take Layla to the mall for something…

He dropped the boxes off in the living room, and followed the sound of the laughter to the unofficial living room. He peaked his head in and it immediately stopped.

"Interrupting something?" he asked.

"No," the trio answered, quickly.

"Right…" he trailed off, walking back toward the kitchen. He immediately heard laughing again as soon as he was out of sight. He smiled and rolled his eyes as he helped himself to the fridge, taking out all the ingredients needed to make a proper sandwich.

As soon as he placed the top piece of bread on his masterpiece, Kwest and Tommy came in from the pool house, laughing. "They're still feeding the baby?" Tommy asked.

"I don't think they were ever feeding the baby," Liam mumbled, through a mouth full.

"What's so funny," Kwest asked, noticing the volume of laughter coming from the great room.

Liam shrugged, and took another bite of his sandwich. "Us."

Kwest's face twisted into a question mark, and he decided to go check it out for himself. He walked down the hall and the laughter stopped, but as soon as he was out of sight, they were laughing again.

"Yup, they're laughing at us," Kwest confirmed, grabbing two slices of bread for his own sandwich.

Tommy took a seat at the island. "Can one of you make me a sandwich?" he asked.

Kwest and Liam both looked at him disbelievingly.

Liam grunted, "No."

"You better walk your ass around to this side of the counter, and make you one," Kwest laughed, slapping miracle whip on his bread slices.

Tommy chuckled, temporarily rethinking his whole 'I'm getting tired of being treated helpless' stance. "Ah…gotta love you guys," he sighed, grabbing honey wheat bread from the breadbox.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: And here's the newest chapter. It's written especially for FreakEmoWriter17, Tanya50801, Erin McKinley, bookworm0408, jackjackio, starfan88, alexis, blondenhot, LuvInstntStar24, Kris10rox, blueyes8907, LittleZurawski, Lindsey, and Duddley111. :) Thanks guys, I appreciate you giving me great feedback on the last chapter. **

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"So," Jude said, twirling her cue stick around her hand like a baton. "You sure you don't want to try this?"

"With out being able to feel things, it's harder to get the whole hand-eye coordination thing down," he explained, leaning against the pool table, watching her play.

"You could try though…does practice make perfect in this case?" she questioned, absentmindedly, walking around the table looking for her angle.

"I don't know," he shrugged, watching her line up her shot.

"Since you basically suck, we won't put any money on the table," She promised, challenging him with her eyes. She walked, around in front of him, gently nudging him over with her hip.

He looked at her curiously as she bent over again, looking for her angle. He watched her shirt ride up ever so slightly exposing a few inches of tanned skin. He unconsciously, ran his fingertips over the small of her back, causing her to jump and miss her shot.

"Yeah, I think I will give it a try," he smiled, enjoying her reaction to his touch.

She wordlessly handed over her own pool stick and walked over to the wall to retrieve another one.

She stood behind him, leaning against her pool stick, watching him carefully lean at the waist to make his shot. His first shot was catastrophically bad.

"Nice," Jude murmured, softly.

Tommy glanced over his shoulder at her curiously. "What," he smirked, standing up straight. "Did you not just see that?"

"Y-y-yeah," Jude stuttered, looking up from his backside. "That was **_nice_**," she nodded. She looked at the look on his face. "I mean it was _horrific_?"

Tommy shook his head, bending over the table again. "You don't mind if I try that again, do you?" he asked, already lining up for his shot again.

"Nope, not at all," she muttered, refocusing on his derriere. "Take your time."

After completely missing again, Tommy grunted. "This could be impossible."

"Here, I'll help you out a little bit," Jude offered.

"You will uh?" he chuckled.

"Yes. I will, now bend over," she ordered, trying desperately hard not laugh or crack a smile. But they both lost the battle and burst into side-aching laughter. "I'm serious though. Let me help you line up your shot." Causing him to laugh harder.

"Come on," Jude urged, only causing them to only laugh harder. "You're perverted Quincy." She rolled her eyes, walking away from him.

"I'm sorry. Go ahead," he smiled, grabbing her wrist, and pulling back to his side.

She gently guided his hands along the pool stick, trying not to focus on the way he smelled, or the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips. They wordlessly, worked together, lining up for the shot. "Okay," she said, "Now, get ready to hit it, nice and easy…" she instructed.

He fought desperately not to laugh as they drew back and hit the cue ball, sending the eight ball into the side pocket. Jude quickly stepped away from him. "Nice," she grumbled, brushing her bangs out of her face. "I'm going to go wait in the main house for the takeout guy…" she said, nodding toward the house. "Should be in here any minute…" she explained. "Ooh, no wait. Let me go show you something, really fast—sort of a housewarming gift."

"Housewarming gift uh?" he repeated, following her out the pool house and sliding the glass door shut behind him and nearly crushing Remembrance, Jude's boxer.

The dog stood up and barred her teeth at him, letting out a low warning growl. Tommy winced and moved quickly away from him. "Sorry girl," he murmured, glancing up to see if Jude had seen him stepping on her dog, but she was occupied opening the gate to the high wooden fence that surrounded the pool area.

"You're dog hates me," Tommy commented, shutting the gate back.

"She hates most guys," Jude said, waving off his theory.

"Oh she's been around a lot of guys," he questioned, nonchalantly, following her toward down the driveway. He watched her tense up slightly upon hearing the question.

"Um," she started, throwing him a sideways glance. "No. She hasn't been around a lot of guys. Liam and Kwest mostly…and Grayson."

"Grayson," he echoed, instantly stopping in his tracks.

"Yeah, Grayson," she said, opening the door to her car.

Tommy fumed, as he watched her search through the glove compartment. _Kwest never mentioned a Grayson to me_. "You and Grayson--" he trailed off, stuffing his hands in his pants pockets. "Are you two _close_?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah, we're developing, a close relationship," Jude reckoned, hiding a huge grin, as she searched through her glove compartment.

"Oh really," Tommy scoffed, nodding his head.

"Yup, he's been walking Remembrance for me since he was 11," Jude replied, "Aha! Found it," she exclaimed, holding up the garage door opener.

Tommy frowned in confusion. "Wait. Grayson's your dog walker?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Yes," Jude confirmed, her eyes twinkling. "Close your eyes," she said, opening her garage door.

"Why?"

"Just do it," she told him, placing her hand on her hip.

He shrugged and covered his eyes to humor her. "They're closed."

"You lie," she chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, they're really closed now," he said, lying some more, he watched as the garage door open revealing a black SUV. "Holy shit, you got me a Range Rover?"

"Uh. No," she said, looking at him like he was crazy. "That's mine. And I thought you weren't looking?"

He shrugged sheepishly, watching her walk over to the inside and taking keys off a hook and walking over to the other car that was covered. "This would be yours," she said, pulling the car cover off the other parked vehicle.

He clutched his chest and walked closer. "M-m-m-my Viper," he exclaimed, walking closer to it.

"Yup," Jude nodded, tossing him the keys. "I'm surprised you didn't ask about it sooner."

"I thought I had been it on the day of the accident," he whispered, kissing the hood.

"No, you were in the Cobra," Jude explained. "The Viper had been in the shop at the time." She smiled, watching him fawn over the car.

He ran his fingertips over the hood. "You'd be happy to know, no one drove it while you were—you know MIA, well _except_ me."

His head shot up quickly at that statement.

"What? It's here in one piece isn't it? Besides did you really want the battery to go dead?"

Tommy shrugged, and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Did you do any **_Dukes of Hazzard_** shit while driving her?" he asked, solemnly.

"Ha. You're so funny," she rolled her eyes, "Kwest's has your motorcycle at his house. The Hummer was kinda sold."

Tommy nodded silently, unlocking the door and slipping into the driver's seat, running his fingers over the steering wheel and the dashboard wordlessly.

Jude smirked, as she watched him get reacquainted with his favorite car. "Um, I'm going in the house," she said. "Takeout guy should be here at any moment," she said, backing out the driveway toward the house. "Tommy," she said, in a worried tone.

"In the house. Takeout," he nodded, inserting the keys in the ignition. "I'm just going to take her for a spin around the block."

"Okay," Jude shrugged, amusedly.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Fair warning...this has no plot-line whatsoever. I tend to like the plot_less_ thing I've got going on in both 'What If' and 'Touched' because it's so much more interesting to write it that way. I get bored easily if I have strict plotlines.**

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"Do you have everything you need?" Jude asked, hurriedly, pouring Tommy more juice. 

He watched her in a daze as she scurried from the island in the kitchen to the breakfast nook, back and forth getting things, and getting ready for work all at once.

"Jude," he said, grabbing her arm. "**Please** have a seat, you're making me extremely dizzy."

"Can't have a seat," she smiled, putting in an earring. "I have to get out of here in 7 minutes before I'm late…and then I will be murdered, and we both don't want that do we?" she said, taking a sip of her juice and setting the glass back down on the table. "Didn't think so."

Before he could reply she was out and about, rushing through the house. "No, wouldn't want that," he smiled, finishing up his strawberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs that Jude had so graciously prepared for him.

He sincerely wanted to complain about the habit she was developing of cooking for him. He was perfectly capable of fixing a bowl of cereal in the little kitchenette in the pool house. But he figured if she genuinely wanted to cook him pancakes, who was he to stop her?

"Okay, I gotta go," she said, grabbing a piece of bacon and a blueberry bagel. "Every number that you could possibly ever want is on the pin board over there," she reminded him, jerking her thumb in the general direction it was in the kitchen.

"Keys on the hook," she said, pointing off in another direction. "Security code is written down on the table in the foyer.

"Jude," he sighed, standing up and taking his dishes to the sink.

"You don't have to do that, I'll be home on my break to check up on things," she said, as she filled her thermal mug with hot tea.

"Jude," he sighed, again rolling his eyes while his back was turned to her at the sink.

"Yeah," she asked, after a bite of her bagel.

"Coddling," he said, throwing an easy smile over his shoulder at her. "You're going to be late girl."

"I'm showing hospitality, not _coddling_, but I'm going," she said, grabbing a paper towel. "You're sure you're going to be okay?"

"Jude," he chuckled, grabbing her briefcase and purse off the countertop. He placed his hand on the small of her back gently pushing her in the direction of the front door. "I'm going to be fine."

"Are you sure," she asked unsurely, grabbing her thermal cup, as he pushed her. "I would stay home another day with you to help you get acclimated, but big—no HUGE meeting this morning at G-major, I sort of can't get out of it. We're meeting---"

"Jude, I'll be fine," he said cutting her off and handing her briefcase and purse to her as he opened the door. "I'm leaving as soon as you get out the door anyway. I have a physical therapy appointment."

"Okay, but I'll stop by around one o'clock anyway, okay? Bring lunch perhaps?"

"Okay," Tommy nodded, gently, pushing her out the door. "See you later,"

"See you," she exhaled, "Have I mentioned lately how good it is to have you around again?"

He nodded, smiling. "Bye, Jude."

"Bye," she said, a little breathlessly before turning and walking down the stairs and down the sidewalk toward her car parked in the driveway. He shut the screen door, and stood there and waved as she backed out the driveway. She honked the horn once, before speeding off down the street.

Tommy shut the door, locking it before returning to the kitchen to straighten up a little. He snorted, as he thought about Jude insisting that he leave the huge mess. If he had, she would have had a hell of a time trying to get the egg white off the counter. As he finished up by wiping off the cabinets and returning dishes to their respective places, he grabbed two pieces of leftover bacon and headed off to guesthouse.

Remembrance perked up from her place on the patio sofa as the whiff of bacon wafted over to her nose. She instantly got up, nearly tripping Tommy as she rushed into the house ahead of him.

"Sure, come on in," Tommy laughed, as the dog sat right in front of the couch, her eyes pleading for some bacon.

"Jude said you were getting fat girl, no table scraps," Tommy explained, to the dog, but she continued to look at him sadly. Tommy sighed, calling the dog to him and handing her the bacon. "Hell, you only live once." He quipped, stroking Remembrance's silky, caramel coat.

With the remote to the plasma television in hand, he flopped on the couch and settled on ESPN. He was on his way into a deep sleep when Remembrance barked and licked his face.

"Rem, you and your doggie breath," he groaned, sitting up. Remembrance patted over to the door and sat down looking at the door longingly.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have given you that bacon," he murmured, as Remembrance shot through his legs like a rocket. He watched in bewilderment when he saw the dog rush and knock a young boy to the ground.

"Holy shit," he whispered, rushing over to the scene and grabbing Remembrance by the collar.

"Are you okay," he asked, but he could see the answer—the boy was laughing and petting the dog's coat, and Remembrance wasn't attack him like he had originally thought. "What are you doing in my yard?" Tommy asked, as the boy stood up and adjusted his glasses.

"_Your_ yard," the boy responded, looking at Tommy from head to toe dexterously. "What are you doing here?" he asked, snidely, and then added, "Jude's newest male conquest?"

"Conquest?" Tommy repeated, narrowing his eyes. "Um, no."

"So what are _you_ doing here?" he asked, adjusting his glasses once again.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm Jude's good friend," he replied, smugly. "And you are?"

"Also a friend," Tommy answered, uncomfortably. He felt as if he was being either audited or on Candid Camera.

"Just a friend, uh?" the boy nodded, brushing Remembrance away from the pocket of his cargo pants. "I thought you might be her father or something…"

"Her father," Tommy exclaimed. "No, I'm not her father!" he chuckled nervously, eyeing the boy suspiciously.

He could have escaped from a mental institution or something. Her father? He must be deranged. Her father?

"I'm afraid we might have gotten off on the wrong foot," Tommy laughed, extending his hand. "I'm _the_ Tom Quincy."

The boy shrugged, declining Tommy's hand, and standing up on his own. "I'm **the** Benjamin Grayson Jr." He scoffed, brushing off Remembrance who was still biting at his pocket.

"Oh…the dog walker," Tommy clarified, his eyes glancing over him, from his messy mop of curly blonde hair to his glasses perched on his nose to his navy blue A&F hoodie to his matching sweat pants and Nikes. "Yeah, Jude mentioned you."

The boy peered over his glasses at him, his eyes piercing his. "She did?"

"Yeah," Tommy replied, slightly amused. "She said you were her 10 year-old dog walker."

"I'm 13," he snapped, digging out a leash from the other side of his pocket. He was quiet as he snapped the leash around Remembrance's neck. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry, there's a _big_ difference right there…" Tommy patronized.

"Yes, **_there is_**," Grayson replied, looking at Tommy from head to toe.

And my sarcasm is wasted on you…

"I thought Jude said Remembrance wasn't allowed any human food," Tommy commented, as he watched the dog lay on her stomach tearing into the peanut butter sandwich.

He grinned, innocently. "What are you doing here while Jude's at work again?" he asked, his curiosity apparently getting the best of him.

"She's letting me stay in her pool house for a while," Tommy clarified.

"Are you and she having sexual relations?" he asked, smirking.

Tommy eyes widened with shock. He couldn't believe the boy actually had the guts to ask him that.

_None of your business, you little weasel. _

He decided to change the subject instead of exhibiting violence. "I thought Jude said Remembrance wasn't allowed any human food," Tommy commented, as he watched her flash her doggie grin as she finished the last of the sandwich.

Grayson shrugged nonchalantly. "About you and Jude," he probed.

"None of your business," Tommy replied, slowly.

"Hey man," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I just wanted to let you know that you were just her newest boy toy…"

"Do I look like a boy to you?" Tommy asked rhetorically.

"No," Grayson replied wide-eyed. "I told you, I could have mistaken you for her father…"

"How old do you think I am," Tommy asked, mildly curious. "On second thought don't answer that…"

Grayson began to saunter out the entrance of the gate, Remembrance in tow.

"Hey, wait up a minute," Tommy called, following Grayson out the back gate. "What do you mean her 'newest boy toy' anyway?"

"Just what I said," Grayson paused, shrugging.

"You're saying Jude has a lot of guys around here?" he questioned, walking along down the driveway with the boy and the dog.

Grayson shrugged again, "I don't think that's any of my business."

_Well, **none** of its any of your business, you little ass wipe._

"I just didn't want you to develop a huge head over Jude paying you a little attention," he confided.

What the hell? It's junior high school all over again. Wow.

"Oh really?" Tommy smirked. "And why not?"

"Because you're nothing special. She'll be over you like this," Grayson said, snapping his fingers. He threw Tommy a sympathetic look and a wave over his shoulder as he and Remembrance jogged down the driveway. "Later dude."

"Later dude," Tommy mocked, rolling his eyes.

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**You thought I forgot, didn't you? No, I didn't. I _have_ to thank the people who make writing this worth my time and energy by reading _AND_ reviewing.So...to blueyes8907, burninsecretskept, pixiestix16, FreakEmoWriter17, Tommy4eva, bookworm0408, smileon, Erin McKinley, Tanya50801, Tommys my 21, Duddley111, and LittleZurawski...thanks so much for taking the time to review. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait…here it is though. Big thanks to Camsma, xNaturalBlondex2, smileon, burninsecretskept, Tanya50801, FreakEmoWriter17, tqluvsjh277, blueyes8907, Duddley111, awesome april, animegrl22, jackjackio, iamthatplace, and cocobear17 for reviewing the last chapter. And the whole chapter is dedicated To Erin McKinley because she's a lifesaver. :)**

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"Something spells like food," Jude mumbled, as she shuffled towards the kitchen. 

It was Saturday morning and Jude's off day after working rather strenuously all week at G-Major. She and Tommy had barely gotten a chance to talk to each other at all with her extremely late nights.

Tommy chuckled at her semiconscious state. He stood by the stove and surveyed her attire…a dark blue nightgown that hit her mid-thigh. He watched her carefully, as she stumbled to the breakfast nook, trying to slide on her silk robe, but failing miserably. She flopped down her chair and let her head fall backwards, as she tried to tightened the ballerina bun on her head.

"And coffee," she sniffed, lying her head down on the table, and closing her eyes.

"Yup, coffee," Tommy smiled, standing beside her wafting the strong aroma in front of her face until she sat up straight. He sat the mug down in front of her and she leaned over and inhaled deeply, sighing contentedly.

Tommy grabbed, the cream and sugar from the kitchen's island, and set it down in front of her. She murmured a "thanks" and finally opened her eyes fully as she dropped two sugar cubesinto her coffee.

"Quincy, you don't have on a shirt," she blurted out, looking up and down from head to toe.

"Nuh uh," he said, sarcastically, handing her a spoon and returning to his spot in front of the stove.

"No, wait a minute," she said, grabbing her mug by the handle, and quickly releasing, muttering a curse.

"You okay," he asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"Fine, mug was hot," she mumbled, grabbing a napkin and attempting to pick it up again.

"I'm sorry. Didn't _feel_ that hot to me," he joked, turning over a piece of bacon.

"That's not funny," she grumbled, taking a sip of her coffee, and sighing as the hot liquid slipped down her throat. She set the mug down and boosted herself on to the marble countertop. "About you walking around here half naked…"

"I'm half naked…" he asked, incredulously, smiling over his shoulder.

She glanced down at her clothing, and tugged at the hem of her gown before crossing her legs. She picked up her mug, and took another sip. "I just woke up…" she explained.

"_I_ just woke up," he said, setting the spatula down and leaning against the dishwasher. He stifled a laugh, as he poured the contents of a mixing bowl into another frying pan.

"Look," she said, jumping off the counter, and returning to her chair and grabbingher robe. She didn't continue to speak until she had her robe securely tied around her waist. "Just be a little bit more—covered when you're over here, please…I could have company or something…." She trailed off, as she watched him flip over an omelet in his pan. "Um…is that a cheese omelet?"

"Yup," he smiled, smugly.

She looked over his shoulder, "Oh, my god, that looks good Quincy," she breathed.

"Too bad it's not for you…" he laughed.

She punched him and took a step back from him when she noticed their proximity.

"Ow," he yelled.

She looked at him, almost dropping her coffee mug. "You felt that?"

He nodded his head up and down, and the shook it from side to side, smiling. "No…"

"Tommy," she growled, leaning against the counter glaring at him. "That's not funny."

"What?" He laughed, shrugging nonchalantly. "It _sounded_ like it would have hurt."

She rolled her eyes, and continued to watch him. "Are you really not going to cook me an omelet?"

"No…" he said, sliding the omelet onto a plate along side some hash browns.

"You're serious? After I cooked for you like all this week," she pouted, watching him place bacon beside the plate.

"Girl, of course, I cooked for you," he said, handing her a plate, and pouring another mixture into the pan. "You know I'd be happy with a bowl of cornflakes."

She smiled, and placed her plate on the island, "I knew you made it for me."

"Yeah. Sure you did."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Tommy sat down in the chair beside Jude again, and stole half the paper from her. She squinted at him and took another bite of her omelet.

"If this wasn't so good, I'd fuss about that," she mumbled, taking another bite of her omelet. "Thanks Quincy, this really is great," she said enunciating every letter in "Great".

He shrugged, waving off her thanks. "I have ulterior motives…"

"Oh?"

"Good ulterior motives…" he said, throwing her an easy smile. "I wanted to talk about your boyfriend," he smiled, looking up at her to see her reaction.

"Really," she answered in a slightly bemused tone. She raised an eyebrow at him and picked up juice glass to take a sip from it. "And who might my boyfriend be?"

"Oh, you know, Benjamin," Tommy replied, casually.

Jude struggled with the simple task of swallowing as he said this. After her sputtering fit, she said. "Grayson uh?" She grinned, taking a bite of food.

"I never realized you liked your guys so _young_, Harrison…you always dated guys that were older than you…"

"Yeah, it was time for a change," she responded, rolling her eyes.

"I don't think he likes me too much…" he said with a thoughtful look.

"Why do you think that," she asked, crossing her legs.

"Well," he started apprehensively. "At first he mistook me for your father…"

Jude took another bite and smirked. "He's met my dad before…"

Tommy shrugged, and chuckled along with her. "Then he informed me that I was just your newest male conquest."

She laughed, "Male conquest, uh?"

"His words, not mine," he laughed, stealing a piece of her baccon. She glared at him, but let him have it. "It gets worse though. He asked me if we were having sexual relations."

She quickly covered her mouth as her mouth dropped open. "Nuh uh."

"Yes. He did," he confirmed, nodding his head.

"That is hilarious," she said through her laughter. "But adorable."

"It's not funny or adorable," Tommy said shaking his head vehemently. "It's disturbing."

"Disturbing? How is it _disturbing_?"

"Maybe not _disturbing_…how about weird as hell. A little thirteen year old interrogating me like that! I kept looking around for hidden cameras."

"Aww," she cooed, "I still say it's cute," she smiled, grabbing a croissant.

"I should have clobbered him…" Tommy nodded thoughtfully.

"You're letting a little thirteen year old get underneath your skin?"

"No," he said shaking his head from side to side rapidly.

Jude tilted her to the side, looking at him skeptically. "Right…"

"Anyway," Tommy said, clearing his throat. "What are you going to be doing today?"

"Well, I was thinking, maybe going back to sleep and then going to hangout with Sadie and my niece."

"What?" Tommy gasped, feigning shock. "The Jude Harrison, Miss VP, has fun these days?"

She glanced at him, taking another the sip of her juice. She re-crossed her legs and tugged the hem of her nightgown uncomfortably. "Yes, I have fun…I'm have plenty of fun."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "Right," he nodded. He stood up and carried his plate to the sink. "That's not what I heard…"

"And who's your source Mr. Quincy?" she asked, trailing behind him to the sink.

"I'll never tell," he said in a grave tone.

"Shut up," she laughed, bumping him with her hip. "No really, tell me."

"Why would I tell you my source?" he asked, rhetorically. "So you can kill them?"

"No," she murmured, turning the water, and scraping the leftovers into the disposal.

She was quiet for a moment, as she stacked the dishwasher, and Tommy finished reading the newspaper at the table. "I do have fun though," she said, over her shoulder, as she began to clean a frying pan.

"Right," he smirked, peaking at her over the top of the paper. He laughed at the determined expression on her face. She turned her back towards him again and started to vigorously scrub the pan.

"Jude," he sighed.

"What," she answered, with a forced politeness.

"I was only kidding."

"Whatever," she shrugged, drying her hands off on a towel, and leaving the pan in the sink to soak.

"How can you be having fun though without your music?" he asked, watching her intently. "I can't believe you're sitting behind a desk instead of singing…" he sighed, shaking his head.

"I'll get back to singing, one day, Tommy," she snapped.

"When?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, playing with fringe on the dishtowel in her hand. "Whenever you start producing me again…" she trailed off, leaning on the countertop. "I couldn't do it without you." She murmured, peaking up at him to see his response.

He nodded, fully understanding her point. "Yeah, you **_could_** have, girl."

She smiled shaking her head. "Okay, maybe I didn't want to because it wouldn't have been the same. _Maybe_ I couldn't imagine someone else sitting in your seat. _Maybe_ I don't care for other people's criticism when it comes to my music…"

"**_Maybe_** you're right…" He stared at her a moment, before she turned back towards the sink, plunging her hands into the soapy water. "So are you going to hook me up with a job at G-Major?"

"Um…well you _could_ have your old job back, but you know **_I_** have it now," she laughed.

"Ah, I see how it is," he smirked.

"We could use another producer…I'm sure."

He nodded, smiling. "I'll have to think about that."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Later on the afternoon, Tommy ordered himself a pizza while Sadie and Jude whisked the baby off to get some professional pictures taken.

He closed the screen door from the main house, carrying the large pizza and a two-liter Mountain Dew towards the pool house. He slid the door open, unsteadily balancing the items in his hands. After almost being knocked to the ground by Remembrance, he noticed Grayson sitting on his couch drinking a coke.

"May I ask what you're doing?" Tommy asked, exasperated.

"Drinking a coke…" he replied, gesturing to the soda in his hand. He then flung his hand in the direction of the plasma television. "Watching television…"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "You realize I'm staying here now, right?"

"Rumor has it," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not a rumor," Tommy grunted, letting Remembrance out and placing the pizza box on the coffee table. "As I was saying before, why are you in here exactly?"

"Well usually after I walk Rem on Saturdays, Jude comes here on her lunch break with Chinese or something. We eat. We laugh. We have fun. She pays me. We both leave. _Together_," he added, suggestively, watching Tommy devour his slice of pizza. "I said we leave **_together_**."

"This pizza is so good," he murmured, "Oh, what were you saying there Benji?"

"Don't call me that," he snapped. "I was saying, Jude and I usually have lunch together on Thursdays. We usually have a great time too and then, we leave. _Together_," he smirked.

"Then you go to Chucky Cheese, right?" Tommy smirked, pouring himself some mountain dew. "Man, this pizza is so good." He murmured again, watching Grayson's mouth water.

"No, we don't go to Chucky Cheese," he replied, clearly annoyed. "We go back to _my_ place."

Tommy looked over at him cautiously to see if he was actually serious. "Your place uh?" he laughed. "You mean you go back to your parents' place…"

Tommy watched a flicker of sadness creep along his face. "Actually I live with my grandparents," he murmured, softly. "My mom died when I was seven and my dad's crazy." He answered, before Tommy could even question him.

"Not literally crazy…that would be straight out of some story book, like crazy as in stupid, he's an American television journalist. He's always covering the exciting news stories. By exciting, I mean the ones where he could easily be killed trying to cover. I think he unconsciously wants to make me an orphan…"

Tommy swallowed hard throwing his half eaten slice of pizza back in the box, not exactly sure what to say. "I'm sure your dad--"

"You don't know him like that Tom-Tom," Grayson smiled, patting his shoulder and stealing a piece of pizza.

They both leaned back on the couch, silently chewing.

"I only told you all that because Jude said you were cool," Grayson explained, pulling pepperonis off his pizza and eating them separately. "She said I should give you a chance and she said you weren't half that asshole you seem like."

"Oh, really? What else did Jude say?" Tommy asked.

"Nothing that I think you're supposed to hear," he replied, smirking. "Like I was saying…I don't like you or anything. But if Jude likes you, you must be okay."

"Thanks."

"No," Grayson replied, shaking his head. "That wasn't a compliment to you, that was a compliment to Jude."

Tommy scoffed rolling his eyes and picking up his glass. They were quiet a moment as they sat together watching stupid commercials.

"You know, Tom-Tom, Mountain Dew lowers your sperm count."

"That's a myth Benji…" Tommy replied, calmly.

"I don't think so…" he snickered in a sing-song tone.

"Well, then why are you drinking it?"

"Well, a slight reduction in my sperm count really isn't going to hurt me that much considering I make a million gametes per milliliter. Now you on the other hand…don't. You're getting up there in age Tom-Tom. You have to start planning for the future. Do you want future fertility problems to be all your fault?"

"Benji, shut it. I'm trying to eat."

They quietly ate and watched the sitcom playing across the television screen. Everything was going well until another commercial break started.

"So you play the piano?"

"Yes, Benji."

"You want to teach me?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"I'm talented, I can pick up things easily. That's why I'm home-schooled…school has nothing to offer me."

"You're home schooled uh?" _That explains the lack of social skills._

"Yup, so about those piano lessons…" Grayson grinned, looking hopeful.

"Sure…I don't see why not."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm terrible; I noticed. Long wait _and_ a short update. My apologies to the people who read _and_ review...(Erin McKinley, ****Duddley111, ****Camsma, ****Tommysmy21, ****smileon, ****LittleZurawski, ****Tommy4eva, ****mandy1485, ****bookworm0408, ****Sweetjudess, ****Tanya50801****, Tommysgurl01, and ****xSoPreppyx22...thank you for reviewing, and I'm sure you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter.)**

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Tommy woke with a start, his cell phone blaring an annoying ringtone, and vibrating wildly on the nightstand. He mentally cursed Grayson for loading it to his phone...'Flight of the Bumble Bee' definitely wasn't his favorite. 

"How fast can you be up and dressed?"

"Come again?" Tommy grunted as he glanced down at his wristwatch and concentrated on focusing his eyes on the long hand and the short hand.

"Jude," he grumbled, looking outside to make sure it hadn't stopped or anything, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter," she said, quickly. At the very moment, she was in her bedroom with Francesca packing.

"Oh, you realize it's 3 in the a.m.," he grunted, crawling back under his bedcovers.

"Well, you see, I kind of got the short end of the stick and now I have to take off to supervise the shooting of Mason's video for his next single "Say What You Want". So can you be packed and ready to go in the next forty-five minutes?"

"What?" Tommy asked again, clearly still only have conscious.

Jude let out an exasperated sigh and slowed her words down to 6 words a second. "Liam had to cancel because the baby's coming down with something. So I kind of had to fill in. Would you like to come to with me? It's supposedly business, but--"

"With you?" he yawned, finally throwing off

Jude nodded and then realized he couldn't see her. "Yeah, Florida. Would you like to come?"

"Why do you want me to come?" He asked, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, and sitting position.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," she responded slowly, beginning to pace in front her balcony doors, taking a break from packing.

He sighed again, shifting his cell to his other hand as he groped the floor for his shirt. "Do you want me to go because you don't want me to stay here by myself," he yawned again, pulling his shirt over his head, and standing up to stretch. "Or for friendship."

"Friendship," she nodded, even though he still couldn't see her. "More than friendship." She added softly, immediately cursing herself for saying the aloud.

_More than friendship_? He thought smugly.

"More than friendship?" he repeated again aloud.

"Yeah, more than friendship, I might need your business expertise…" she clarified smoothly.

"Oh," he said, barely hiding his disappointment.

"What's the matter," Jude asked softly, glancing out her balcony window, watching Tommy cut on lights as he walked through out the pool house.

"What should I wear," he asked half-jokingly.

She smiled sadly, still watching his silhouette in front of the window. She shook her head, "Ummm…just pack for a few days, I have to finish packing plane leaves in less than hour."

"Hey, wait up a minute," glancing out his window shade up at her balcony. "Exactly are we going?"

Jude smiled, stepping away from her window and returning to her packing. "How about I surprise you." She smirked, as she flipped her phone closed and through it on her bed close to Francesca.

"My, aren't you going to have fun over the few days," she smirked.

"I'm going for business," Jude reminded her, turning back to her dresser. "How fun can business be?"

"You can go for business, and when you get finished with it, you can focus on a little pleasure. Pleasure of _orgasmic_ levels." She explained.

"Have you seen that black Ralph Lauren suit? It's not at the dry cleaners is it?" Jude asked, effortlessly changing the subject.

"Behind your closet door," Francesca answered.

"Thank you," Jude said as she rushed to her closet to find the suit, and to hide her profuse blushing.

"I think you need to focus more on casual attire more than the business attire," Francesca commented as Jude reentered her bedroom.

"Why do you say that Francesca?" Jude mumbled, fumbling around in her closet.

"You are so annoying Jude…" Francesca sighed, throwing her arms up in defeat. "Tommy's been under the same roof for almost a month and you still haven't cracked. Is it self-control or stupidity that's keeping abstinent?"

"You like these open-toed shoes or the open-heeled ones?" Jude asked, ignoring the question at hand.

Francesca shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "Must be stupidity. Or are you scared…"

"I'm not scared," Jude snapped, throwing the black leather open-toed shoes into her bag. "I'm just not into rushing things…"

"Honey," Francesca murmured softly.

"If something is supposed to happen, it'll happen."

"But don't you want to be prepared with sexy lingerie and killer heels just in case _something_ happens."

Jude crossed her arms of her chest and rolled her eyes, trying hard to camouflage the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Yes." She mumbled, kneeling at the foot of her bed. Francesca watched her curiously as she felt under her bed for something.

"See, that's what I'm talking about," Francesca grinned, as Jude revealed a couple of pink bags with _Victoria's Secret's_ emblem printed across the front of them.


End file.
